The donations this year will be split 50/50 between Special Effect and Colin McDonnell's family, Colin was our founding member of WMC Gamers and has sadly passed away money raised will help to give him the send off he deserves.

The William Merritt Centre will be hosting GameBlast23 again this year with a slight difference, unfortunately one of our Volunteers Colin McDonnell passed away suddenly on the 30/12/2022. Colin was the heart and soul of every GameBlast we have done at the centre over the last 9 years.

So this year we will be splitting all money raised 50/50 between Special Effect to help disabled gamers like Colin and the McDonnell Family to help pay for his funeral!

About SpecialEffect and GameBlast

SpecialEffect is an award-winning UK charity helping to improve the lives of disabled people across the globe through the innovative use of technology. At the core of this mission is providing greater inclusion through the opportunity to play video games to the best of their abilities. GameBlast is one of the charity’s longest-running fundraising events and will celebrate its 10th birthday in 2023. The weekend sees 100s of gamers and streamers around the world come together to have fun and raise vital funds to help gamers with disabilities. Registered Charity No. 1121004

About Colin McDonnell

If you knew Colin, or had any interaction with him, you know how amazing he was inside and out and how much he loved life. Despite his disability, Colin never moaned and always had a smile on his face and would always put one on yours.

He would spend a lot of his time paying it forward. Anything he learned he would share by volunteering and teaching others, whether it was accessing technology (which seemed impossible for some) to playing and coaching Boccia (the sport that he loved) - and he was pretty damn good at it!

He was always helping other children and adults through their difficulties with accessing technology with his know-how, intelligence, and determination to make anything possible.