Local Heroes – The Real Champions of the Bingo World

In the UK, bingo has long been a pastime closely linked to the community, played for charity purposes and enjoyed by people of all ages. The game has been used to raise funds for all sorts of good causes and in all the time it has been played across the country, thousands of people have joined in the fun and in many instances, made a real difference to a charity or cause in their local area. The benefits of community and charity bingo are palpable and the people who organise the events should be recognised and thanked for the work they do for their communities and local populations.

East Anglian Angels

Recently in the news were a couple from Stalham in Norfolk who have spent nearly half a century raising money for various charities and what was their method of fundraising? Charity bingo games. Husband and wife team, James and Marie Andrews have raised in excess of £129,000 for local charities including their local brand of the Macmillan Nurses and East Anglian Air Ambulance. Mr. Andrews has been fundraising for local causes since the age of 22 and is now 86, showing the commitment he’s made to both fundraising and finding interesting ways of getting people to donate. Once the couple moved to Stalham in 1965 their interest in fundraising kicked up a notch and they used their combined talents to organise hundreds of fun bingo events with a great cause at their hearts. Mr and Mrs Andrews have now decided it’s time to call it a day but this doesn’t detract from the years of wonderful work they’ve done.

Finchley Fundraisers

If you pick up any local newspaper chances are you’ll find a charity event being covered and reported. Often these charity events involve a range of different fundraising activities including bingo games. Recently, bingo players in Finchley were happy to hand over a cheque of more than £2,000 to their local Children’s hospice after a night of fantastic bingo fun. More than 100 people were said to have been involved in this event which raised over £2,000 for the Noah’s Ark Children’ Hospice.

Another example of community spirit in full flow with a little bit of bingo thrown in for extra measure took place in Ludlow. The local community came together to raise funds for Midland Air Ambulance and these are just two examples of many across the country showing how bingo can be intrinsic to the community and help local charities.

Community Champions

Someone else we just had to mention when looking at local heroes is Dora Newtown who recently celebrated her 100th birthday in style – with a VIP bingo session. As a regular at her local Mecca Bingo Hall and officially their oldest client, the staff at the hall threw Mrs. Newtown a party she’d never forget including a luxury car to ferry her from her home to the hall.

Mecca Bingo has also joined up with Real People Magazine to launch their Community Champion scheme. They’ve teamed up to find the community champions who really make a difference to local areas across the UK. This again shows the clear link between bingo and the community and it’s made even more interesting as it’s specifically meccabingo.com that’s involved in this venture. This is obviously further evidence that the online bingo industry is still keen to show it’s community spirit and promote local issues and views. Some of the many categories you can nominate potential winners for in the Community Champion awards include The Unsung Hero of the Community, recognizing somebody who quietly goes out of their way to make a huge difference to their community and The Community Big Idea of the Year, which rewards an innovative project in need of a little extra push to get off the ground. This initiative it extremely exciting and shows that even online bingo sites can get involved in supporting community projects.

Many people think bingo is just a simple game, great for pensioners to enjoy on a Saturday afternoon but this shows it’s much more than that. It can be used in a positive why to inspire communities to both support their local charities and make the most of their local areas. It can also be a fun hobby which can help in part to keep someone going until their 100th year!