Good for gaming
How local university students used video games and board games to raise over £2,000 for charity.
Off The Record B&NES’s first gaming-themed fundraising campaign raised over £2,200 thanks to students from University of Bath and Bath Spa University.
Student groups created inventive, engaging events for their peers, while promoting the mental health cause, and raising awareness of the services accessible to students at OTR.
Many of these events were livestreamed on Twitch.tv during the last week of lockdown, bringing supporters together to cheer for the gamers in the live chat, turning a virtual event into a connected experience.
Why gaming?
When tuning into the variety of livestreams that took place, it became apparent these events weren’t just about gaming, but togetherness.
One participant said: “Gaming has kept me in touch with friends… without the time we’ve spent together on games, I would have felt so isolated during the pandemic… [video games and board games] give us something to do regularly together, even though we’re far apart.”
It was clear that friends, scattered across the country (and even the globe) were not only using games to stand in solidarity with a charitable cause close to their hearts, but even more importantly, to spend quality time together.
President at Bath Spa Mental Health Society, Caroline Riddell, spoke to us about why her society got involved.
“Videogames have been a virtual way to socialise during lockdown. Friends that cannot meet in real life can play and talk to each other over multiplayer games.
We are running this Gaming Week event because we recognise that [Off The Record] is a vital charity for young people, especially during the current year with quarantine.
As a Mental Health Society we really care about the mental health of our society members who are mostly young people that could benefit from learning more about this charity.”
Who was involved?
Members of Bath Video Game Society at the University of Bath boasted their refined gaming skills, broadcasting over 30 hours of entertainment for friends and family to enjoy.
Congratulations to Tom Coleman of BVGS for winning the achievements for ‘most money raised’, and ‘most individual donations’.
Bath Tabletop Society put together a wonderfully creative series of events for members, including a wargame figurine painting session, and an interactive role-playing game where the audience could play along.
Thank you to the following organisers for putting on such creative and engaging events!
Wargame painting: Aydin Hodala, Rupert Eaderly, Rory Napier
Monday Boardgames: James Lake, Owen Holland, Matthew Hopper, Nathan Steele
Chess: Jordan de Burgo, James Golding
Wednesday’s RPG: Taliesin Oldridge, Dom Butler, Riley Prydderch, Constantinos Zachariades
Thursday’s RPG: Scarlette Ellis, Alfie Richards, Dom Butler, Anthony O'Connor
Friday Boardgames: James Lake, Aydin Hodala, Arthur Huxley, Nathan Steele, Sandy Li
Bath Spa LGBTQ+ Society and Game Jam Society ran an inventive event called ‘Gayme Jam,’ whereby participants designed their own games at a shot to be crowned winner.
Bath Spa Mental Health Society focussed on accessible, social gaming to ease loneliness during the Easter Holidays. They ran 4 nights of events to help students through the last week of lockdown, and to raise awareness of student mental health.
When asked about the lessons learnt from getting involved with OTR’s Gameathon event, Mental Health Society’s President said:
‘We’ve learnt a lot about what organisation it takes to run an event like this. Also learnt a lot about problem solving and how to compromise and evolve an idea into a finished event. Overall we learnt a lot and I am very appreciative that we got to work with OTR.’
[Pictured left to right] Bath Spa Mental Health Society’s committee: Treasurer Imogen Done, Vice President Anya Murray, Social Media Secretary Darmonelle (Dee) Johnson, and President Caroline Riddell.