It’s not all fun and games when you have to stay focused for a whole 24 hours but that’s exactly what Wetherspoons manager and keen gamer Mark Thomas has achieved.

After seeing a Facebook advert of someone doing a 12 hour live stream for another charity, Mark took it upon himself to go one step further and do a 24 hour gaming live stream fundraiser for Walsall Healthcare’s Well Wishers charity

He said: “I play a lot of games in my spare time and don’t really sleep all that much to be honest so decided to try a combination of the two which was a lot harder than I ever thought it would be.

“I started at 7am and staying interested was hard enough but staying awake? By 3am I was beat but as clichéd as it sounds, that’s when I knew I had to make the next four hours.

“Sometimes (especially in the current climate) there are going to be situations where NHS workers have been at work for longer than they should have been, not eaten properly, not slept and have just about exhausted every bit of energy they can muster but have to push through.  I know what I did was stress free from the comfort of my home but just having to dig deep and sink a few more cups of coffee.”

Third year student nurse, Amy Gosling who is currently helping on Ward 9 is Mark’s friend and she said: “I think it is brilliant and a huge help. Gaming is something our group of friends do every day over the internet so lockdown hasn’t really changed this for us and it was a great idea.

“I watched the stream when I came home from work that day and was involved for a little while. There was a lot of our friendship group popping in and out all day and he had a lot of viewers watching.”

Mark, who lives in Walsall, had initially set a donation target of £250 but was surprised to see that within the first day of setting up his justgiving page, he had already surpassed this amount.

And as of 22 May has made £345 which the 26-year-old described as a “crazy concept”.

He added: “Honestly, it feels great that so many people supported me in what I was doing. A lot of people donated anonymously but anyone that I was able to find out who they were I made sure to thank personally but also filled my Facebook and Twitter with thank you posts to everyone else that got involved.”

For anyone interested in seeing Mark’s stream you can see it on his Twitch page here.

If you would like to make a donation to the Well Wishers COVID-19 support fund you can do so clicking on this justgiving link https://bit.ly/3czWoyn