GamesAid raises £150,000 in 2023/2024
AFK, Access Sport, Autistica, Game Therapy UK and Solving Kids Cancer each receive £30,000 from UK games industry charity
Thursday 16th May 2024 – GamesAid has announced that it has raised £150,000 for the causes it supported in 2023/2024.
The total, which was announced at the conclusion of the Barclays Games Frenzy event, was raised by the charity across the year through events such as its Gala Dinner, its tombolas at events such as Develop and EGX and its February 2024 Steam Sale.
As a result, GamesAid will be making six donations of £30,000 to Access Sport, AFK, Autistica, Game Therapy UK and Solving Kids Cancer to support the life changing work they do on behalf of disadvantaged children and young people across the UK.
The figure exceeds last year’s total of £120,000, with GamesAid increasing its donation to good causes by 25% year-on-year. It also means that the charity has now raised over £5.65m for causes since it was first founded 15 years ago.
Comment from our charities about the impact of the donation on their causes:
Amy De Broise, Corporate Partnerships at Access Sport said: “We are enormously grateful for this donation from GamesAid which will help us reach more disadvantaged young people through our basketball work. This vital funding will enable us to expand our basketball activity across London so that more young people from underserved communities can access the benefits of this amazing sport, including improved physical and mental health and that all important sense of belonging! Thank you so much to all the GamesAid community, your support will make a huge difference to the young people that we are working with this year.”
Anna Austin, Relationship Manager, Solving Kids’ Cancer: Solving Kids’ Cancer UK is delighted and deeply grateful for the incredibly generous donation of £30,000 from GamesAid. Thank you so much to everyone at GamesAid for your support over the last year and fantastic fundraising events. Your generosity will play a pivotal role in advancing our mission to combat childhood cancer through funding ground-breaking research, providing essential support services for families, and advocating for improved treatments and outcomes for children facing cancer. A huge thank you from us all at SKC and all the children and families affected by this devastating disease.
Giorgia Molinari, Head of Corporate and Commercial Partnerships, Autistica “We are immensely grateful for the continued support from the Games Industry, which is helping us ensure that every autistic person has a chance of a happy, healthy and long life. GamesAid’s donation brings us closer to achieving our 2030 Goals – Autistica’s agenda for change to ensure that every autistic person has access to the right support, find sustainable and fulfilling work, and live in an inclusive and accepting world.”
Lyn Prodger, Corporate Partnerships Manager, AFK, said: “Everyone at Action For Kids would like to say the biggest thank you to all the GamesAid fundraisers, donors, trustees and companies plus of course everyone in the UK Games Industry who voted for AFK to receive a share of funds raised in the last 12 months. What an incredible amount! A donation like this makes a lasting difference to the lives of disabled children and young people around the UK who are in need of specialist mobility equipment, employability training and mental health support.
Dr Gary Colman, Chairman, Game Therapy UK, said: “We’re delighted to receive this very generous donation which will fund a raft of new young persons therapeutic gaming projects around the UK. This will include projects for autistic young people, and young people with special educational needs where evidence-based therapeutic gaming can have profound benefits”.
The charity has also announced its new partners for 2024/2025 following this year’s selection process amongst GamesAid’s members of games industry professionals.
Autistica, Game Therapy UK and Solving Kids’ Cancer return as selected charities for this year, with Gamers Beat Cancer and Safe In Our World joining as GamesAid supported charities for the first time.
George Osborn, Co-Chair of GamesAid said:
“We want to say an enormous thank you to every person and company who has backed GamesAid over the past 12 months. The unwavering support for the charity from the community has delivered long-lasting benefits to young people across the country – demonstrating the transformative, life changing power of video games in the process.”
GamesAid is looking for new members to support its work. People in the UK games industry who would like