UK-registered charity Gamers Beat Cancer is launching a monthly Rocket League event which is aimed at increasing awareness of the charity and to help with vital fundraising.
Gamers Beat Cancer supports people of all ages, all backgrounds and all types of cancer to manage the mental health issues that come with living with cancer. It also supports caregivers and families with ‘The Gift of Gaming’. Gamers Beat Cancer donated more than 130 Gifts of Gaming in 2022 and are aiming to double this in 2023.
Legend Gaming will be the tournament partners throughout 2023 offering tech and admin support for the events. Legend Gaming is a video and mobile games tournament platform and esports media company that has provided its tournament hub and some prize money to help manage the event.
Also, RSC EU, billed as Europe’s biggest Community Draft League within Rocket League, will be partnering with Gamers Beat Cancer. It has released a special edition esports jersey with Gamers Beat Cancer displayed on the front, beside RSC EU’s recent sponsorship with the RLCS organisation Rule One. This jersey is aimed at helping to raise awareness of Gamers Beat Cancer with a percentage of sales also being donated to the charity.
RSC EU will also become the tournament organiser partner, hosting events on its streaming channels and driving player registration via their community of 3,500+ people.
‘This will allow us to help more patients’ – Gamers Beat Cancer founder
Steven Bracewell, the founder of Gamers Beat Cancer, commented: “We are delighted to be working with our partners in what is our first step into the esports space. As someone who is a cancer patient myself, I know the release that gaming offers me. With these events, this will only allow us to help even more cancer patients and caregivers who share our love for gaming.”
Craig Winfield, who is leading the new esports initiative, said: “As a person who has lost friends and family through cancer, it gives me great pleasure to be able to help such an amazing charity. This is our first step in the esports world and something that we hope to grow in the coming 12 months, we need help from brands to help us realise the potential of these events and I would love to have a discussion with anyone that would be happy to sponsor our events.”
John Armstrong of Legend Gaming said:
“We are very pleased and proud to be working alongside Gamers Beat Cancer and their partners. We recognise the tremendous work they are doing and look forward to hosting some exciting events, starting with Rocket League, on our platform at legendgaming.gg.”
John Armstrong, Legend Gaming
Adam Binns, Head Admin of RSC, commented: “I am delighted to get this over the line and have had great chats with Craig on our vision for this partnership. Charities have always been close to my heart due to my experiences in life and having worked in the health and nursing sector for many years prior to esports, and so it is an honour to welcome Gamers Beat Cancer as a partner within the RSC and working together on plans going forward.”
Tournament participants and viewers of the event will be able to make donations to Gamers Beat Cancer throughout the events. The news follows another recent gaming charity initiative in the UK: End Youth Homelessness’ Gaming for Good.
There’s more info on the Gamers Beat Cancer website and Gamers Beat Cancer Twitter page.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
