Press release -
Jingle Jam Surpasses Lifetime Charity Fundraising Total of £25 Million Since Starting in 2011
Wednesday 20 December, Bristol: After a fortnight of fun supported by content creators from across the UK video game community, the 2023 Jingle Jam has raised over £2.7 million for its 12 supported charities, taking the initiative’s lifetime total past £25 million.
Over 60,000 donations were received during the event, which ran from 1 December to 14 December, with money raised for the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), Comic Relief, War Child, CoppaFeel! and more.
The other charities supported this year were Autistica, Galop, Hello World, Justdiggit, Movember, the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People), Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal and Whale and Dolphin Conservation.
More than 630 streaming partners took part in the 2023 event, including Vikkstar, RT Game and Freyz Playz driving an average donation of £41.97.
“We’re incredibly proud of the amount of money raised this year and over the past twelve years,” said Lewis Brindley, co-founder of Jingle Jam. “I want to thank all those who have streamed, danced and played over the years, helping us reach this incredible milestone.”
“Every year we are blown away by how the video game community comes together, and this year was no exception. We’re already looking forward to 2024!”
Founded by Lewis and Simon of the Yogscast back in 2011 to raise money for Oxfam, Jingle Jam has grown significantly in size and momentum ever since and was established as a fundraising charity in 2022.
Over the years, a wide array of charitable organisations have been supported. These beneficiaries cover a diverse range of causes, such as environmental sustainability, wildlife conservation, relief efforts in conflict zones, promoting accessibility in gaming and sports, cancer research, supporting LGBTQ+ rights and efforts to combat racism.
The totals raised for each of the charities supported in 2023 are as follows:
Autistica | £215,341 Raised – Creating a mental Health and Wellbeing Tips Hub for young autistic people
Campaign Against Living Miserably | £277,066 Raised – Providing urgent mental healthy services for young people at risk of suicide.
Comic Relief | £196,681 Raised – Tackling food insecurity by providing 920,000 meals across the UK in winter 2023/24
CoppaFeel! | £209,247 Raised – Raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer amongst young people, and driving relevancy amongst under represented groups that it can affect ANY body, regardless of age, gender or race.
Galop | £207,309 Raised – Unlocking a better future for LGBT+ youth with a national abuse and violence service.
Hello World | £204,387 Raised – Closing the digital divide for marginalised children and young people globally.
Justdiggit | £211,872 Raised – Regreening African landscapes by using indigenous techniques, (mobile) technology and communication to inspire farmers to restore their land.
Movember | £218,525 Raised – Working towards a future where men and their communities live happier and longer lives, by solving some of the most complex issues facing men today such as prostate and testicular cancer.
RNIB | £192,422 Raised – Transforming the lives of children and young people with vision impairment through education, social support, and the joy of accessible video-gaming.
Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal | £219,576 Raised – The creation of a unique facility for Bristol Children’s Hospital which will be named the Jingle Jam Building.
War Child | £215,526 Raised – To protect, educate, and advocate for the rights of children impacted by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Whale and Dolphin Conservation | £332,978 Raised – Helping to end whaling and hunting for good so that whales and dolphins can keep performing their vital role in the ocean to help us fight climate and biodiversity breakdown.
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About Jingle Jam
Jingle Jam is the world’s biggest games charity event, taking place every year. Since its inception in 2011, the Jingle Jam has leveraged the power of streamers and gamers to raise over £25 million for charitable projects across the world.
This year’s Jingle Jam fundraising period and Jingle Jam charity games collection supported the following charity projects:
About Autistica
Autistica is the UK's leading autism research and campaigning charity. Our vision is a world where every autistic person lives a happy, healthy, long life. We fund and carry out research-based solutions, shape policy and work with autistic people to make more of a difference. We have committed to creating a more enabling world by 2030. Through our six ‘2030 Goals’ we will create effective health and social care, meaningful employment, accessible public spaces, and inclusive attitudes.
About Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)
Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) stands united against suicide with everyone in the UK. Every week, 125 people in the UK take their own lives. CALM exists to change this - by offering life-saving support, creating culture changing campaigns, and bringing people together across the country to reject living miserably. Stand with them.
About Comic Relief
Comic Relief uses the power of humour and popular culture to engage people to help others and raises money to support organisations working towards a just world free from poverty. Our mission combines Comic and Relief. We believe that helping others can be easy and fun, even in the face of the challenges we face every day.
Everyone should be able to have a decent standard of living and to live life with dignity and respect – but right now, in the UK and around the world, poverty and injustice restrict too many of us. We know that a better world is possible. We provide funding to fantastic organisations who are closest to the communities who can make change happen. We support work that will help to alleviate poverty’s consequences, tackle related injustices, and address the link between climate change and poverty.
About Coppafeel!
As the UK's first and only breast cancer charity for young people, CoppaFeel! is on a mission to ensure that all breast cancers are diagnosed as early as possible. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK and yet a quarter of young people aren’t aware they could be affected. From delivering nearly 400 school talks to sending over one million free text reminders every year, CoppaFeel! aims to educate, encourage and empower young people to get to know their bodies and check regularly. And it really works! Users of the charity's Self-Checkout web app are 78% more likely to check afterwards and 60% of those who check themselves regularly feel confident in noticing a change. Why not have a look (and feel) yourself?
About Galop
Galop is the UK’s LGBT+ anti-abuse charity. We work with and for LGBT+ victims and survivors of abuse and violence. Galop works directly with thousands of LGBT+ people who have experienced abuse and violence every year. We specialise in supporting victims and survivors of domestic abuse, sexual violence, hate crime, honour-based abuse, forced marriage, so-called conversion therapies, and other forms of interpersonal abuse. We are a service run by LGBT+ people, for LGBT+ people, and the needs of our community are at the centre of what we do.
We run four national support helplines for LGBT+ victims and survivors of: domestic abuse; hate crime; rape and sexual abuse; and so-called “conversion therapy”. We provide longer-term support to thousands of LGBT+ victims and survivors of abuse through our advocacy services. We are person-centred, empowerment-based, and trauma-informed – meaning our focus is always on helping our clients decide what is best for them, and then supporting them through their journey.
We use what we learn through working on the frontlines with clients to work on national and local policy change, to improve outcomes for LGBT+ victims and survivors of abuse and violence. We build evidence through key pieces of research around LGBT+ people’s experiences of abuse and violence. We push for legislative change, improved statutory guidance for victims, and better understanding of the needs of LGBT+ people around the country.
About Hello World
Hello World works to bridge the digital divide in partnership with hard-to-reach communities globally. We co-create a world where everyone has access to power and the internet to educate, problem-solve, connect and play. We do this via Hello Hubs, solar powered internet stations that get people online, provide free and reliable wifi connectivity, hardware to access it, and pre-loaded, world-class education software. Hello Hubs are innovative, scalable and affordable. Designed to be easily replicated and entirely built by the community. We see the huge impact connectivity has on the lives of children and young people across every community and Jingle Jam’s grant will support us to expand our reach further to create even more impact.
About Justdiggit
Justdiggit is a non-profit organisation dedicated to cooling the planet by restoring degraded land in Africa through sustainable farming practices and community-led initiatives. Since its founding the organisation has dug more than 300.000 water bunds, regenerated 14 million trees that helped to regreen over 380,000 hectares of land in countries including Kenya and Tanzania.
About Movember
Movember is the leading global charity tackling some of the most complex health issues facing men today, such as prostate and testicular cancer. The charity raises funds to deliver innovative, breakthrough research and support programmes that enable men to live happier, healthier and longer lives. Committed to disrupting the status quo, millions have joined the movement, helping fund over 1,250 projects around the world. In addition to tackling key health issues faced by men, Movember is working to encourage men to stay healthy in all areas of their life, with a focus on men staying socially connected and becoming more open to discussing their health and significant moments in their lives. The charity’s vision is to have an everlasting impact on the face of men’s health.
About RNIB
We are the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). Every six minutes, someone in the UK begins to lose their sight. RNIB is taking a stand against exclusion, inequality and isolation to create a world without barriers where people with sight loss can lead full lives. A different world where society values blind and partially sighted people not for the disabilities they’ve overcome, but for the people they are.
About Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal
Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal is the dedicated Bristol Children’s Hospital charity. It runs three family accommodation facilities and over 10 specialist support staff in partnership with the children’s hospital and its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St Michael’s Hospital, Bristol. Bristol Children’s Hospital is a national centre of excellence. It treats over 100,000 patients each year from across the entire South West and South Wales region and is home to some of the most exciting advancements in global paediatric healthcare. Babies, children, and young adults with highly complex medical conditions – from rare genetic disorders, neurological conditions and congenital heart disease to traumatic injuries, cancer, and kidney disease – are cared for around the clock by leaders in their respective fields. Just like Bristol, the hospital is a hub of innovation, where every day these experts pave the way for sick children through a vast network of research projects with international impact.
It is thanks to The Grand Appeal the hospital is a pioneer in so many fields today. Through its unique, trailblazing partnership with Aardman Animations, The Grand Appeal has diversified its funding streams to bring in the most advanced medical equipment, including the UK’s first-ever Cardiac Hybrid Theatre in a paediatric setting, an intraoperative 3T MRi Scanner – one of only three in children’s hospitals across Europe – and a ground-breaking neuro-robot, which helps neurosurgeons perform major operations with pin-point precision.
About War Child
At War Child we are driven by a single goal – ensuring a safe future for every child affected by war. We work in some of the hardest to reach places to support those who are hardest hit. We aim to reach children as quickly as possible when conflict breaks out and stay long after the cameras have gone to support them through their recovery. We work with local communities and governments to help protect and educate children, and support them to heal and learn, for a safer, brighter future. We understand children’s needs, respect and stand up for their rights, and put them at the centre of everything we do – because one child caught up in conflict is one child too many. Every day, our local teams are in communities and in refugee camps creating safe spaces for children to play, learn and access psychological support, and we specialise in responding rapidly to emergency crisis situations to deliver immediate and critical care to help those who need us most, when they need us most. At War Child, we will never give up on children affected by conflict.
About Whale and Dolphin Conservation
WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, is the leading global charity dedicated to the protection of whales and dolphins. We work across the globe to protect these magnificent creatures from deliberate harms such as whaling and captivity. We create safe seas, free from the threat of pollution, collisions with vessels and accidental entanglement in fishing gear. We win recognition of whales and dolphins as sentient, socially complex beings, and our allies in the fight against climate and nature breakdown. We believe all whales and dolphins should swim wild and free.
About Tiltify
Tiltify is a fundraising platform that empowers communities, charities and companies to impact change across the globe. Tiltify specialises in video-based fundraising tools that drive authentic engagement on social platforms like TikTok, Twitch, and YouTube.
