A pair of avid gamers have raised over £600 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity after taking on a 24-hour gaming marathon to do more for the hospital’s sick kids.

39-year-old Steve James, from Lichfield, and his pal Gary Mills, from Swindon, met through the gaming community online, and that’s where they heard other gamers talking about using their hobby for good, by streaming their gameplay in return for donations to charity.

This kind of challenge was right up Steve and Gary’s street, and Steve, who works as a Risk Manager for Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, knew exactly where he wanted the money they raised to go.

Steve has worked for the Trust for over 14 years and in that time he’s seen colleagues go above and beyond, devoting their lives to the care of the hospital’s patients, and this was the perfect opportunity to do something and give back in honour of their hard work.

Setting the date of their challenge and a target of £150, Steve and Gary rallied the gaming troops to support and donate as they booted up their PlayStations. On the day, they began playing at 6pm, streaming their live gameplay through the night and into the morning and afternoon, playing all manner of games, from action, to adventure and even cards!

Before the Steve and Gary knew it, their fundraising total had surpassed £600 and they were approaching 6pm the next day.

Steve said: “Birmingham Children’s Hospital is such a special place and every day I see just how much the care of my lovely colleagues means to our young patients and families, and me and Gary just wanted to thank them in our own way.

“Staying awake for 24 hours was actually a lot easier than we thought, but maintaining our concentration was tricky! Thankfully though, we had plenty of friends chatting to us online and sending messages of encouragement and that really made a difference.”

Miranda Williams, Head of Public Fundraising at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “Gaming and streaming is becoming a popular fundraising alternative with our brilliant supporters, and it’s all thanks to gamers like Steve and Gary for leading the way and proving that fundraising really can take any shape!

“The funds they’ve raised with their 24-hour challenge will help us continue to support the life-saving work of our brilliant NHS colleagues.”

If you’re a gaming-fanatic, why not put your skills to the test and stream your gameplay for our Fight For All The Feels Campaign? You’ll be raising funds in aid of Forward Thinking Birmingham, the city’s youth mental health partnership for 0-25-year-olds. For more information and to get involved, please visit fightforallthefeels.org/gaming.