Our gaming heros

Read about Matthew's story, and how gaming marathons helped raise valuable funds for Amnesty.

Matthew, the man who inspired it all

Matthew's story

I’m not really sure what first inspired me to do charity gaming marathons. I’m not the sort that will run a marathon or climb a mountain, so it seemed like something that I can actually do that could do some good.

This year was my third gaming marathon, and second supporting Amnesty. Over three years, I’ve raised £4,660 for various charities, including £1,606 for Amnesty. It was my friend Andrei that first suggested supporting Amnesty, and I’ve continued to do so for the protection of free speech and to help stop the detention of journalists across the world.

During the preparation for this year’s event, I was reached out to by Ben, one of Amnesty’s community fundraising coordinators, who offered me ideas, support and some merchandise that I could raffle off as gifts. This input from Amnesty was very well received by myself and my gaming community and definitely helped raise more money than previous years.

If anyone is thinking of doing something similar - just go for it! Preparation is key, you need a schedule and people to be with you to keep you awake (the 20-hour mark is a killer). But it is as simple as having a computer, decent internet and some free streaming software.