I am happy to report that there is a growing trend among the online bingo big boys to make a contribution to various charities based upon the value of certain bingo games played by online bingo customers.

It has frequently been reported during this recession that online bingo does not appear to have been as badly affected by the economic downturn has might have been expected. In this respect it does no harm to the reputation of the online bingo industry to be seen to be making a gesture to say, ‘Ok, we are making a profit, but look, others can benefit too’.

Cancer Research and Breast Cancer Care are two areas that are particularly well represented within the fund raising efforts of the online bingo sites. The latter is probably representative of the fact that it is recognised that it is still women that make up the majority of the online bingo population – although more and more men are gradually being brought into the fold.

The high profile of a lot of fundraising events for cancer related illnesses also make these charities attractive to support. For instance, there are nationwide Race for Life events that take place up and down the country over the summer. Race for Life is organised by Cancer Research UK and many of the people that take part have had their lives touched by cancer in some way. These are usually women only events and participants obtain sponsorship for completing a 5k course, either walking, jogging or running.

You may also have heard of the Pink Ribbon Walks for Breast Cancer Care and the annual Playtex Moonwalk – the next event taking place in Hyde Park on 15th May. The Moonwalks call for real commitment, being either a Full Moon walk of 26.2 miles or a Half Moon walk for 13.1 miles. But many people make that commitment as more than £8m was raised from these events in 2009.

There is one online bingo site that exists to provide the best of online bingo entertainment whilst raising money for deserving charities. BigHeartBingo is all about charity bingo. The charity bingo game is played in exactly the same way as a normal bingo game, but a percentage of money raised is given to one or more named charities. This means online bingo players get the excitement of being able to win a prize for themselves, but also get the satisfaction of knowing that they are helping a good cause just by participating at all times.

Of the more mainstream online bingo providers Crown Bingo is probably the biggest that has specifically
chosen a cancer charity to support. During May the Crown Bingo nominated charity is Cancer Research UK. 50% of the jackpot funds from 7-9pm on Monday 10th May in Room 2 will be donated.  So it stands to reason that the more players that take part in the games the higher the jackpots will be and in-turn the higher the donation to this worthy charity will be. Crown Bingo will continue to run selected games during the month where a proportion of the funds will be donated to the charity.

Mecca Bingo choose a single charity to support throughout the whole year and in 2010 this is Marie Curie Cancer Care. The support of high profile names like Mecca Bingo helps to raise funds to enable Marie Curie Nurses care for terminally ill people across the UK in their homes. It takes £20 to fund one hour of nursing care. The Mecca Bingo Marie Curie games sees 80p per pound spent on bingo games donated to the charity and winners can also win themsleves a VIP trip to one of the exclusive Mecca Clubs.

Gala Bingo was probably one of the first online bingo providers to make a concerted effort to support a specific charity and currently they are aiming to raise £1m over 18 months for Sue Ryder Care, a charity that provides specialised care in 14 care centres and by running community based services across the UK, caring for sufferers and their families,of cancer, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s Disease among others. For instance, every night this week Gala bingo will play a special linked game, where not only will there be a £1,000 Jackpot for you, but galabingo.com will be donating an additional £1,000 to Sue Ryder Care. They want to make it a Grand for You and a Grand for Sue! If you want to take part linked games will take place at 19.25 in all linked clubs.

This trend of being able to contribute to charity while playing our favourite online bingo games is one to be applauded and I for one hope it continues to grow and become a feature of more online bingo sites with more bingo games or bingo sessions helping specific charities.

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