GamesAid raises £50k overnight

GamesAid raised a staggering £50,000 with a single event at last night’s 3rd Annual Golf & Spa Day fundraiser.

The sell-out event was organised by Gem Distribution and held at The Grove in Watford. A variety of fund-raising activities were held, including a live auction for a signed England shirt donated by Sony Computer Entertainment UK, which raised £2,500.

The event was sponsored by Gem, Logitech, The Hut Group, THQ, Xbox 360 and MCV, and was open to representatives from publishing, retail and development, as well as this year’s chosen charities.

“I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the sponsors and everyone who took part in the event making it such an enormous success,” said GamesAid Trustee Richard Stickler.

“I’m immensely proud to see the real difference events like this make when the money’s put to work.”

Stickler also gave special thanks to Louise Powell and Emilie George for raising £2,500 selling golf ball and mulligans, and the promotional girls and HoneyandLime.com cocktail bar who raised £650 by cleaning dirty golf balls.

“This is a great endorsement for the industry,” said Gem’s group director Chris Peacock. “Every publisher, distributor and retailer has been represented here and together we’ve achieved something truly amazing. My sincere thanks to everyone involved.”

GamesAid Trustee Rupert Loman added: “Thanks to Gem, the Golf & Spa day sponsors and everyone who attended the event, an astonishing amount of money has been raised for GamesAid.

“Nominations and voting will soon begin to allow the games industry to decide which causes GamesAid will support in 2010,”

This year, GamesAid has supported Willow Foundation, Special Effects, Winston’s Wish, Action for Kids and the Royal Hospital for Neuro Disability.

Winston’s Wish’s head of fundraising and communications Tony Samuel: “Every pound raised will make a huge difference. GamesAid has been a fantastic supporter of Winston’s Wish and the other charities here. On behalf of all the children and families that will benefit: many, many thanks.”