While tech and gaming news calms down a little before the next big crescendo in February, I wanted to take the chance to say a big “thank you.”

Time seems to be moving at a sprinter’s pace at the moment, and I never really found the time to write this until now. 

You may remember that back on 16th November last year, I ran the Game Heroes gauntlet - a 24-hour charity stream raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support. Thanks to your generosity and support, I raised £392.40.

To put that into context, that pays for (almost) two full days of Macmillan Nurse time - providing essential help and support to people living with cancer and their loved ones. Their work is incredibly important to millions across the country. And while this amount is a drop in the water, I am incredibly proud to have raised so much.

And none of this will be possible without each and every one of you who made a donation of any size to this cause, so here, I will thank you all by name just below.

Thank yous

Adam - big boss man at Go Dine

Jack Steele - keep on cracking with the YouTube channel

Kirsty Wallis - thanks for joining me at the NADDPOD live show

Lucretia Richmond - probably see you soon for an inappropriately large amount of drinks

Lucy Brown - thank you so much for taking Laura up on her request to donate

Mark Dowthwaite - been a long time since secondary school, so thank you for checking back in

16-Bit Dad - the two time award-winning blogger and friend. Thank you!

Ian - the stream was pleasurable (weird choice of word there) for about the first 18 hours until I started fighting off sleep

Laura Elder - thanks for saving my life, becoming my best friend and saying “yes” when I awkwardly asked you out on a date

Jon and Dave Perkins - Always a pleasure to speak to you both in my Go Dine capacity, and thank you so much for your donations

Sam Edwards - hope the Dad life is treating you well

Ben White - thanks for putting up with me since primary school

Gareth Hatfield - thanks for introducing me to D&D and giving me an awesome new hobby

Gareth Purnell - fellow socialist! Thanks for your donation

Dave - hope everything is going well at Framework

Ben Thorpe - no I will not pay you back for your donation in pints

Rob Elder - thanks for introducing me to the top pizza place in Edinburgh and hope you’re enjoying the big job

Sarah Henry - hope you’re doing well and thank you for your donation

Daryl Veal - keep everyone laughing with your top puns and sudden dark humour!

Theresa - so glad you donated - thank you!

Lindsey Pike - here when you need me, plus hope next election night doesn’t contain as much depressed drinking

Gran - thank you for being one of the guiding lights in my life

Mum and Dad - the key inspirations in my life. I love you both

Andy Newton - my current D&D DM (and doing a great job)

@miloskibayeah - picked up on my tweet and donated. Thank you so much!

Going Forward

Following the stream, a fair few of you lovely viewers/readers got in touch asking if this was a sign of me returning to a regular Twitch schedule. And I’ll be honest, while the stream got difficult towards the end, I loved every second of it.

Video games started as a means of escapism - to enrich a life I was not happy in as a child bullied at school. Now, they continue to be a big part of my life as one of the greatest entertainment mediums on the planet, and it felt amazing to share those experiences and talk to you directly.

So, will I come back? Yes - but to get to that point is going to be tricky. I’ve got plenty of organisational challenges to overcome, in terms of where I will fit in some regular slots to sit down and play games. Turns out adult life has a habit of dominating everything you do - filing taxes, doing freelance work, looking after my home with Laura.

And not only that, but as you get older, you start to appreciate having some time to yourself. A 21-year-old version of me, who would spend 4 hours a night posting on New Rising Media is metaphorically looking down on me with disappointment at the mere idea of saying that, but it’s true.

Sometimes, doing nothing is good. And when I’ve figured out a more rigid timetable for myself, that’s when I will start to stream again. Stay tuned…