Luke Wilson (left) and Jamie Chapman hosted a 24-hour gaming marathon for charity (Photograph: Jamie Chapman)
Two young men from Birmingham have held a grueling 24-hour gaming marathon to help raise hundreds of pounds for charity.
Jamie Chapman and Luke Wilson put themselves through a whole day and night of sponsored non-stop live streamed game-play and raised just under £400 for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Broadcasting live to the world on video game streaming website Twitch, the gaming duo stocked up on energy drinks and snacks before strapping in for the long haul as they played popular titles including Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and Forza Horizon.
As they worked their way through various fictionalised and fantasy worlds, along arduous routes and through difficult tasks; both Jamie, 26, and Luke, 28, were encouraged by online players, social media users, and friends who had sponsored them via their JustGiving page.
The initiative was taken by the lads as part of Macmillan Cancer Support’s ‘Game Changers‘ campaign, for which Macmillan provides willing participants with everything they need to get started with the stream, including graphics, guides and instructions on how to setup an online fundraising page.
Twitch is a live streaming video platform owned by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon.com
Jamie, an avid YouTube vlogger who also heads the city’s annual Zombie Walk in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital, said:
“We decided to take on a 24 hour gaming marathon in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. Myself and Luke are both used to gaming for long periods of time, but had never done 24 hours straight of gaming before.
“The whole thing was streamed live on Twitch, allowing anyone to tune in on their phones, computers and tablets. This also allowed people to chat directly with us as we played our games, which made it much easier for us to stay awake. This also allowed new people to discover our stream and donate to Macmillan Cancer Support. The Twitch community were fantastic and incredibly supportive throughout the 24 hours. In total we raised £370 for Macmillan Cancer Support and we are still waiting for a few donations to come in.
Forza Horizon 3 was one of the games Jamie and Luke played during their charity gaming marathon for Macmillan Cancer Trust (Image: Microsoft Game Studios)
Jamie and Luke played a number of games, including Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (Image: Activision)
“We played a wide variety of games including well known first person shooter games such as Call Of Duty Black Ops 3 and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. We also played Uncharted 4, Grand Theft Auto V, Rocket League, Forza Horizon 3, Jackbox Party Pack and Gang Beasts. We played on PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4.
4 hours and 20 minutes to go until the end of our 24 hour charity stream. We’re still going strong without energy drinks! #twitch pic.twitter.com/t5Uqjwkdg5
— Jamie Chapman (@ChapperzTV) September 21, 2016
Few photos from our 24hr charity #Twitch stream earlier this week in aid of @macmillancancer. You can still donate: https://t.co/isqeZUK1wk pic.twitter.com/d85espS5hT
— Jamie Chapman (@ChapperzTV) September 25, 2016
“The 24 hour gaming marathon was really good fun and all for an incredible cause. The last few hours were a struggle but coffee and energy drinks kept us going. We’re just extremely grateful to everyone who supported us during the 24 hours and for donating to Macmillan Cancer Support.”
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You can still donate to Jamie and Luke on their JustGiving page here, to help them raise even more for Macmillan Cancer Trust.
Twitch users can find and follow Jamie Chapman at ChapperzTV, and Luke Wilson at ShadoNite.
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