Game on in battle against cancer

Kalim Amin, Ben Bunting, James Wright, Simon Daley

James Wright, Ben Bunting, Kalim Amin and Simon Daley, four friends and colleagues at Altodigital, an office technology company at Cherrycourt Way, Leighton Buzzard, took part in a 24-hour gaming marathon for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The inaugural Macmillan Game Changers challenge was such a success last year that the lads decided to get involved in the fun this time around.

James, who kicked his fiancée and their two children out of their Leighton Buzzard home for the duration of the event, said they each had an Xbox and also used a Playstation and PC – making his front room look “a bit like Maplins!”.

He said: “We’re just four average guys who have always wanted to make a difference to people’s lives and now thanks to Macmillan Gamechangers 2016, we can!

“We held an epic 24 hour gaming marathon to raise money to help people affected by cancer. We all know people affected by cancer.

“We decided to do a 24-hour gaming marathon as opposed to the ‘usual’ kinds of fundraising such as skydiving etc, as you can probably tell from the attached picture, we are not the most athletic of people, and we might as well stick to what we are good at!”

The chaps set out with a fundraising target of £1,000, but the day before the challenge they had already clocked up £1,087 in pledges, with significant contributions from their employer and one of the firm’s suppliers, Ricoh.

The event ran from 5pm on Saturday (August 6) until 5pm on Sunday, and with hunger, boredom, and toilet trips to resist, it was certainly a challenge.

James said: “We streamed the entire event online, we had forfeits and fines, to get some more money and to pass the time.

“One of the forfeits was the first person out of their chair, and we went six hours without anyone standing up.

“We also had to pay £2.50 for a 15-minute power nap and I paid £5 for half an hour.”

With a pizza at 11pm, and a good supply of sugary snacks from Costco to keep them going overnight, a mate came to the rescue just as the lads were in need of a boost.

James said: “I was feeling it by the time dawn arrived.

“We were flagging a bit towards the end, but a friend turned up with a McDonalds at 10am at just the right time.”

As of this morning their total had risen to an impressive £1,322.

> Their fundraising page is https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/james-wright-gamechangers