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We gamers should be proud of what we have achieved in recent years. Both in the industry, in the incredible increase in the hobby's popularity, and in what we have done this year through the United Kingdom Games Expo (UKGE).
At this year's UKGE, gamers helped make the world a better place through their generosity. A big claim, I know, but a true one. UKGE always supports several charities and donates much of the proceedings earned through events to them. A fantastic thing for them to do, but for this to have happened, gamers needed to have engaged and worked with UKGE’s organised stalls/activities, and have given generously.
The Charities and UKGE Events
The charities this year were SUDC, Seren's All Stars and Coram Beanstalk. The SUDC is a charity centred around raising awareness about sudden and unexpected death of a child and the funding of crucial research. Seren's All Stars is focused on raising money to fund research into acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Over 650 people are diagnosed with ALL every year in England each year, and it can affect anyone but it most prominent in children aged 0-4. CoramBeanstalk is a charity that trains volunteers to provide one-to-one literacy support in primary schools and nurseries. Their goal is to ensure all children are able to be confident and able readers.
The Bring and Buy sale was the most prominent way of raising money. By selling our unwanted games, we made a little money and passed our unwanted games onto new homes, with a small percentage being taken by UKGE. However, the Bring and Buy is entirely non-profit and any money earned is given to charity! The Maths trade is another event where the proceeds went to charity. Using algorithms, calculations, and plain common sense, trades take place across multiple people.
The Happy Salmon Mega Game was specifically in aid of Seren's All Stars. This huge spectacle was filmed and so a young UKGE frequenter, who could not attend due to illness, could watch whilst bravely fighting ALL. The generosity of gamers helped raise money for the charity and hopefully lifted the spirits of those unable to attend! The play test area was also incredibly busy, and no doubt helped budding designers in their endeavours. These developers to be had the opportunity to donate to charity to make differences to the lives of so many.
The Dice Tower were also in attendance. I'm certain they were well recognised and subject of many photos. If you do ever get the chance to meet either Tom or Zee, do so They're lovely chaps, easy going, and very down to Earth! On top of that, they were on the open gaming tables playing with us average Joes. Of course, tickets to play with them went quick and great fun was had by all. The donations of the players and the time of both Zee and Tom wasn't unnoticed and will have helped theses fantastic causes.
A Fantastic Amount
At this year's UKGE gamers helped raise a whopping £18,300! That’s an insane amount of money over three days. Gamers were able to help these amazing causes through generosity, enthusiasm and their time. I am proud to say I am a gamer, and the actions of this community only increase that pride tenfold! Kudos to the best community of any hobby!