GAMERS are limbering up for a 24-hour fundraising event at Northwich’s Board Beans café this weekend

Almost a year to the day that Frazer and Betsy Eden collected the keys for the Witton Street premises, they’re welcoming gamers to take part in GameBlast, a day-long gaming marathon in support of SpecialEffects charity.

From 10am on Saturday, February 22, to 10am the following day, games fans will be putting their skills to the test to raise funds for the charity that helps young people with special needs gain access to gaming.

Frazer explained: “I don’t think it’s a secret that I’m a bit of a games geek, but it’s fair to say my life just wouldn’t be the same without it.

“Given what it is that we do for a living, it just makes sense to support an initiative that helps other people get into gaming.

“SpecialEffects is a great charity and one that we can really relate to, so we want to be able to give something back to support the wider community that has helped us on our way.”

Driven by their own love of board games, the couple have created a café space where traditional games fans can dive into an extensive library which spans everything from classics such as Monopoly and Cluedo to modern hits like Super Rhino and Ticket to Ride.

And it’s gone from strength to strength, adding a host of special gaming events to its repertoire alongside the popular weekend and school holiday family visits.

Frazer said: “It’s almost a year since we opened, and we’re amazed by how well things have gone. When we opened, to be honest, I’m not sure quite what we expected, but it’s certainly exceeded our expectations so far.”

As to the upcoming 24-hour event, which is held in conjunction with local business Cherry Training, Frazer says the team will be tired but excited and he’s hopeful they will smash their £1,000 target.

He said: “We’ve actually sold the majority of our tickets, but we’ll be live streaming the event on Facebook and raffling a whole host of prizes from other Northwich retailers including Abda’s Café, Millenium Comics, Northwich Entertainer, Northwich Game, and both board and computer games publishers like Nomad Games, so there’s plenty of ways to get involved.”

Find out more about Board Beans Café’s GameBlast event on their Facebook page.