GamesAid voting closes Sunday

Voting for the charities that GamesAid will supprt in 2012 ends on Sunday.

The UK video games industry charity has named the 14 charitable organisations in the running to receive support.

GamesAid members are invited to vote for the charity they would like to see being officially supported. The focus is on organisations that focus on children and young adults with a turnover of 5m or less and running costs of no more than 30 per cent.

Voting will run until midnight on Sunday September 23rd at www.gamesaid.org. Just visit the members section.

Here’s the complete list:

Accuro

Accuro is a registered charity that supports children/adults with a disability and their families with a wide range of services in West Essex, from the birth of a child, through Parenting Support with home visits to provide advice and to sign post families to other local services.

Action for Kids

Action For Kids works closely with families of disabled children and young people to help them deal with the barriers to independence by funding specialist equipment, offering family support and providing a wide range of education and training options and access to work programmes.

CHIVA (Children’s HIV Association)

The stigma and isolation HIV can have on a child or young person – not telling siblings let alone friends, school and extended family – can be crippling. CHIVA brings together HIV positive young people across the UK to share experiences, build friendships and not feel alone.

Dreamflight

Each October Dreamflight charters a 747 and takes 192 seriously ill and disabled children aged 8-14 from all over the UK on their Holiday of a Lifetime” to the theme parks of Orlando, Florida. We aim to bring fun and joy to children whose illnesses and treatments have brought pain, distress and disruption to their lives.

Family Holiday Association

Since 1975, the Family Holiday Association has been working to provide short seaside breaks for the neediest families in our community. The charity helps families in desperate circumstances: those dealing with bereavement, poverty, chronic illness, inadequate housing or domestic violence.

Friends of Chelsea Children’s Hospital School

Friends of Chelsea Children’s Hospital School raise funds for Chelsea Community Hospital School so that they can support children and young people’s education whilst admitted to Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, The Royal Brompton Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital, and Collingham Child and Family unit.

Jigsaw4u

Jigsaw4uis a charity working to support children and young people through trauma, loss and bereavement. It brings together children and young people who feel alone and different, so that by sharing their experiences they can develop the tools to move forward in their lives.

Julia’s House

As the only children’s hospice in Dorset, the aim of Julia’s House is to maximise and enrich the quality of life for Dorset children and young people with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions. We provide support from diagnosis to end of life and beyond for the whole family.

Lifelites

Lifelites installs and maintains packages of the very latest fun and educational technology for the 7,100 severely disabled and terminally ill children who stay, play and learn in all 44 of the UK’s children’s hospices.

MAPS – Sutton Borough Volunteer Bureau

MAPS is a specialist mentoring programme, which provides every young person referred with a long-term, one-to-one, mentor who is carefully selected to support the young person for 12 months. Working with South London’s most vulnerable young people, MAPS expertly place people who listen with young people who need to be heard.

Scottish Huntington’s Association (Youth Service)

The SHA Youth Service supports children and young people in Scotland to manage the daily challenges of living in a family affected by Huntington’s disease, via a range of services including befriending, one-to-one and group counselling, advocacy, information & advice, a series of one-day activities and an annual summer camp.

Small Steps

Small Steps runs structured sessions every morning / afternoon for groups of severely disabled children and their parents. Parents are hands-on with their own child throughout sessions, directed and assisted by a professional team including physiotherapist and conductor-teachers, learning skills themselves in order to support their child through the daily routine.

SpecialEffect

SpecialEffect is the only specialist UK-based charity dedicated to helping ALL people with disabilities enjoy video games – from injured soldiers to young disabled people who can’t play any other way. They’re also changing the way the whole WORLD plays through collaboration with developers and acclaimed online information service – the ‘GameBase’.

The Willow Foundation

The Willow Foundation is the only charity in the UK to provide positive and life-enhancing Special Days for seriously ill 16 to 40 year olds.Special Days aim to provide beneficiaries and loved ones with a break from the realities of diagnosis and treatment. Spending quality time with family and friends can help restore a sense of normality, boost confidence and create precious memories.