Four friends are to host a 24-hour gameathon this weekend to raise money and support people living with dementia.

Coast to Coast Gamers are hosting a fundraising 24-hour gameathon as part of Alzheimer’s Society Game Over Dementia event, in recognition of September as World Alzheimer’s Month.

Coast to Coast Gamers is comprised of Tom Palmer, from Aberystwyth, and his brother-in-law Rob Cox, from Capel Seion, and Tom’s childhood friends from Suffolk, Jonny Flack and Kyle Harmon.

The gameathon will start at 10am, on Saturday, 25 September, and finish at 10am on Sunday, 26 September. The gamers are hoping to raise £500 for Alzheimer’s Society.

“We like to complete challenges for charity,” Tom said. “Two years ago we completed the UK 24-hour Three Peaks Challenge for Latch, the children’s cancer charity which helps my son.

“This year, I decided to raise some money and some awareness for the Alzheimer’s Society.

“We lost a family member to dementia in 2019. I think we can all look back at people we lost or people we know and wonder if dementia played a part in it; especially with our elderly relatives.

“So I guess we are just a little fundraising group. We’re all gamers and with Covid-19 still fairly restrictive, this seemed like a fun challenge we could get stuck into.”

Tom said the cause is particularly close to his heart as his wife’s grandfather, Bobby, sadly died from Dementia in 2019.

“Bobby suddenly became unwell and was admitted into hospital. Whilst being tested in hospital, he was diagnosed with an underlying condition – dementia.

“His health went down so quickly and unfortunately he passed in the following couple of weeks.

“Bobby was such a powerful and respected person in the family it shook everyone and, before we knew it, he was gone.”

Alzheimer’s Society is hoping to raise £26,000 through the Game Over Dementia event.

A spokesperson said: “One of our phone based dementia advisers answer over 2,000 calls on average every year. They are trusted experts supporting people through some of their toughest times.

“While the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the ability to provide face-to-face services, calls to our dementia advisers have increased.

“With September being World Alzheimer’s month, we’re asking our amazing community to try and raise a total of £26,000. This could pay for one dementia adviser to support 2,000 people over a year.

“Create your streaming event, shout about it on Twitter, Twitch, Facebook or whatever you use and help become a hero without a cape too!”

To watch the 24-hour gameathon on Twitch, go to https://www.twitch.tv/coast_to_coast_gamers

To donate to the Coast to Coast Gamers, go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/coast2coastgamers