In September 2024, a friend, Helen Roberts, died of cancer. Helen and her husband, Tim, helped our family through our dark times when our little one had cancer as well. We want to say “Thank you” to Helen for her life and works, so the following is a part of why I am trying to raise £2000 in this loony event below.

We are the Watford Board Games Group and we really enjoy playing long, medium and short board games. A few months ago, some of the members of the group asked to “pull an all-nighter”, but I know that all-nighters very rarely succeed unless there is a reason to do it. But then also, we also enjoy raising money for charities. As a result, we are running a gamers marathon, called, “Gamerthon” at the end of June - Saturday 28th at 8am to Sunday 29th June at 8am, in the memory of Helen.

In Gamerthon, we are going to sit down and play board games for 24 hours solid (with an allowance of 5 minutes per hour for eating/toilet and anti-DVT walks).

The money will be given to two charities that Helen had involvement with - one being New Hope, a homelessness charity in Watford, Hertfordshire and Dignify (a part of One YMCA) which works towards protecting children online.

We chose to bless two charities in this way because of the following:

Dignify was the project baby of Helen's and it aims to help children to grow up with appropriate attitudes to relationships and is relevant to many of the members of the group, as many of us have children of "internet age". In fact, they are currently working in schools that we have links with at the moment.

There would be way more people who would be affected by homelessness in and around Watford without of the work of New Hope. Many of us have personally witnessed the amazing work of this charity. We have seen people who were on the streets and sometimes struggling with chemical dependency who work their way out of the self-destructive life situations through the love and care that this charity provides. New Hope is supported by churches in Watford and Wellspring Church and I know the Helen was a direct supporter.

How do you want to help?

You can DONATE!

If you would like to sponsor me (Laurence - I am the organiser and pledge to do the whole 24 hours) and donate to these charities and support in that manner - please do so by pressing the "Donate" button this page!

You can JOIN US!

If you would like to come along and join us, you have several more choices at different levels:

Bronze - You can come and pay a £15 flat fee to play for as long as you want in the event.
Silver - You can raise your own sponsorship and come for as long as you want in the event.
Gold - You raise your own sponsorship and pledge to come for the full 24 hours!

If you choose the Silver or Gold levels, please call us at the phone number at the bottom and then press the "Join Event" button on this page to set up your sponsorship page. For those who wish to gain sponsorship offline (i.e. cash) we have a sponsorship form available, so get in contact at the number below for this.

The event will be held in a private house in Leavesden, Watford, Herts. We will be providing food at 1pm, 7pm and 6am to all players if they are with us at those times, but there will be drinks and snacks available outside of those times. Please tell us at what times you will be attending, so that we can cater.

EDIT: Latest news is that we will have a twitch live stream for our supporters to come and watch us play! The link for the channel will only be available during the event and it is https://www.twitch.tv/quietleni - perhaps we will "see" you there?

For further information, please call New Hope on 01923 227132 between the hours of 0800H and 1600H, Mondays to Fridays.