Inspiration for your Game Over Dementia event

Dementia will affect one in three of us at some point in our lives. Even if you haven't personally been affected, you may know someone who has been diagnosed or is caring for a person living with dementia.

Hear from others in the Game Over Dementia community

Watch a video trailer from our supporters in the No Mercy team:

Hannah's story

Hannah, aka Lomadiah, is a Twitch ambassador who hosted a fundraising stream for Alzheimer’s Society. Her grandmother was diagnosed with vascular dementia around four years ago, and is now in specialised care.

'Nanny’s in her mid-90s and an absolute star - even if she’s lost some of her shine. We’re incredibly lucky that she’s still able to participate in a weekly video call with assistance from carers.' You can read more about Hannah and her Nanny on our blog.

Hannah set her original goal as £500 but swiftly upped it to £750, due to the overwhelming support of her community and other creators (Arthremis, Skye_Blacke and Zoe_Dels), who joined her in playing Phasmophobia, a ghost hunting game.

'Fundraising and watching creators get scared go hand-in-hand - who knew?!', Hannah says.

Here are some of Hannah's top tips for others: 

• Set a manageable goal and stream time. There’s no sense in burning yourself out - streaming is a marathon, not a sprint!
• The more the merrier - get other creators involved if you can. It not only widens the net for donations, but also means you’re not doing it alone.
• Chat commands for charity websites and donation pages help a LOT. Especially if you have them on a timer and include text prompts on screen.
• Print off a cheat sheet - just some basic statistics - for the charity and cause you’re fundraising for. You never know when you might have a spare 30 seconds to provide a bit more information.
• If your stream has space for it, why not show a video or two from the charity? Most charities have a YouTube page with fabulous campaign videos (e.g. Kevin’s story), which helps give weight to why you’re fundraising.

Andy's story

Andy aka MrKomodo_1 decided to host a 25-hour stream on Twitch to raise funds in memory of his grandma who sadly passed away from Alzheimer's disease. 'She was such a bubbly and energetic person but this disease slowly took that away' recalls Andy. 'To see someone you love change in such a way is a tough experience.' 

With the support of his Twitch community, Andy set about his marathon stream with a target of £500. Some even stayed up all night with him chatting and keeping him going! It was all worth it though. Andy more than doubled his target, raising an amazing £1,037. 

Andy's shared some of his top tips: 

• Start in the evening if you're hosting a gameathon! So you can go straight to bed after... 
• Hold back on the caffeine until you absolutely need it. 
• Try and play with other people so you can chat and get motivation. 
• If you feel like you can't carry on remember WHY you're doing it. 

Sian's story

Sian is a research manager here at Alzheimer’s Society. She’s taken part in Game Over Dementia twice now, raising an astonishing total of £3,300. Along with her team, they hosted a 24-hour gameathon to raise awareness and funds. It was a fantastic way for her to merge her passion for gaming and charity work together.

Sian's stream was in memory of her father who sadly passed away in 2004. He was diagnosed at the age of 37, which marked the start of a seven-year journey with dementia for the entire family.

‘My dad was one of a kind, a loving man who loved music, cats and his motorbikes. He was outgoing, funny and had a smile that lit up rooms’. Next time, Sian’s planning to take it up a notch in memory of her dad. ‘We’re aiming to raise over £2,000!’

We asked Sian for some of her top tips from her events:

• Overlays are a gamechanger. They made things smoother, more professional and gave me a chance to see my fundraising total in real time.
• Using a wheel of misfortune. It’s a great way of driving audience participation, I think people definitely donated more often over the 24 hours to make us suffer.
• Lots of social media posting! We posted a lot before the stream, and then posted during so people didn’t forget about us.

How your fundraising can help people affected by dementia

Have a question about fundraising?

We're more than happy to help - email us at [email protected]