GamesAid names charity winners as donations hit record amount

The five charities that will receive a share of the 260,000 raised by games industry charity GamesAid have been named.

Action for Kids, Lifelites, MAPS, Safe@Last and SpecialEffect this afternoon received 52,000 each from the total fundraising pot of 260,000 at Eurogamer Expo presentation – that represents a 44 per cent annual increase and sets a new GamesAid record.

We are delighted for the winning charities that will share the 260,000, as raised and decided by our members,” GamesAid chairman Stuart Dinsey stated.

New projects are being introduced to drive us to a new record total in 2014 and past 1 million since GamesAid was launched. We welcome members, fund-raisers and potential Trustees who would like to come forward and get involved.”

Here’s what representatives for each of the charities had to say:

Action For Kids chief executive Graham Duncan: GamesAid is a fantastic charity and Action For Kids are thrilled to receive another extremely generous donation from the funds raised by its wonderful members, ambassadors and trustees. We can’t thank everyone enough for taking the time to vote for us; this donation will help transform the lives of the disabled children and young people we support, by helping us to provide crucial mobility equipment to enable far greater independence and to give them support into learning, training and meaningful employment.”

Lifelites chief executive Simone Enefer-Doy: Gaming is at the heart of everything we do at Lifelites which is why being a GamesAid charity is so important to us. Our connections with GamesAid have helped us to create Enable Gaming, an accessible game-making partnership with London Southbank University students. The funding is also hugely important to us: we’ll be using it to provide children in hospices across the British Isles with opportunities to use assistive technology to communicate, create and take control and, most importantly, to play games with their brothers and sisters. We’re really excited about working with the industry over the next 12 months and want to thank and congratulate everyone involved with GamesAid for their spectacular fundraising efforts.”

Mentoring & Peer Support (MAPS) manager Helen Gasparelli: Firstly I want to thank GamesAid on behalf of MAPS but more importantly on behalf of the young people that this money will enable us to support. It is not an exaggeration to say that this money really is life changing for so many. We will be able to support young people who are at risk of falling out of the education system for a variety of reasons, such as anxiety, depression, self-harm bullying, family breakdown, peer pressure, domestic violence, physical or sexual abuse.

SAFE@LAST head of communications and funding Clare Sherratt: We’re absolutely delighted that GamesAid members have chosen to support SAFE@LAST. The funding will be invaluable in helping us to continue to support vulnerable children who have run away from home and will make a real difference helping to keep them safe.”

SpecialEffect director Dr Mick Donegan: "This fantastic donation is a real shot in the arm for anyone with a disability that wants to play video games. Demand for our help has rocketed this year, and we can’t thank GamesAid and their thousands of supporters enough for this money. It will go directly towards our unique one-to-one assessments and loans that help people of all ages and all disabilities to get back in the game."