Test of endurance for Leighton Buzzard gamers will help charities

Video game enthusiasts who all work at Altodigital, an office technology company in Leighton Buzzard, will be putting their gaming skills to the test for a 24-hour test of endurance.

Four of the team completed a similar challenge two years ago, successfully raising money for the Macmillan Cancer Support.

That challenge took place at organiser James Wright’s house, who kicked his family out for the duration of the event.

This time around there are now eight employees taking part, and instead the guys will be glued to screens at the company’s HQ in Cherrycourt Way from 8pm on Friday, March 23.

As well as playing a range of games on Xbox One, fines and forfeits will be thrown into the mix - such as a penalty for the first person out of their chair, or paying for the privilege of taking a 15-minute power nap.

James said: “This time around we are aiming high and will be raising money for both Macmillan and the British Heart Foundation, as they do fantastic work and sadly, we have lost several friends from the Altodigital family to both diseases.”

Joining the original quartet of James, Ben Bunting, Kalim Amin and Simon Daley, are Sachin Shah, Jordan McPherson, Jamie Willingale and Liam Andrews.

He added: “Luckily I don’t have to kick my family out of our home this time as our MD, Dave Gibson, has offered us the use of one of the offices at Altodigital to hold the event.

“There will be more forfeits and challenges to keep us on our toes. We have also been fortunate; several companies are helping out as well, with Ricoh donating money, whilst Mike, our local CAFE2U chap will be swinging by to donate many caffeine based beverages to help us get through the 24 hours. Café Amiin, based in Luton, will be supplying us with some delicious snacks to fuel our marathon effort.”

Anyone who wishes to donate can go to www.justgiving.com/teams/alto18 where the team will also be posting a link for the live stream of their antics nearer the date.