Every year the Yogscast host a highly successful set of Twitch streams for charity throughout December. This year is no different and, as per tradition, company founders Lewis Brindley and Simon Lane will kick the streams off with Jingle Cats at 17;00 UK Time, December 1st.
The Yogscast have committed themselves to charity Christmas streams since 2011 but it was 2013 when they came into their own with the ‘Dwarven Dairy Drive’. Back then they managed to raise an impressive $1,159,746 but more recent streams have absolutely eclipsed that number.
2016’s Jingle Jam upped the ante by earning $2,577,801 over double the amount of any previous year and more than the previous two years put together. Yogscast’s biggest success came last year when their 2017 Jingle Jam raised an incredible $5,245,772, bringing their total money raised for charity up to more than a staggering $11,000,000 in just seven years.
You are allowed to select any of the hundreds of thousands of charities supported by the Jingle Jam to donate to but there are a select few that Yogscast considers being particularly special to them. The only confirmed charity right now is Cancer Research UK but in previous years there’s been repeat appearances for Special Effect, Whale and Dolphin Conservation and International Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Trans and Intersex Association.
For past Jingle Jams, 100% of donations have gone to charity with the streamers themselves being compensated for their work by Lewis Brindley himself out of his own pocket. Since there’s no suggestion of a change this year it is assumed the same philanthropic approach will be kept up for this year too.
So what’s in it for you? Obviously, raising money for charity is a great thing but it’s understandable that not everyone can afford to donate just for that feel good factor. Donating enough to the Jingle Jam also gives you the honor of receiving a huge games bundle courtesy of Humble Bundle.
Whilst this year’s bundle hasn’t been announced yet we know it’s going to be good with last years featuring 70+ games, countless DLC and game OSTs for just $35. The retail price of all these items put together without the bundle was $849. Some popular titles featured in the bundle include Rust, Q.U.B.E (meaning the really good Q.U.B.E 2 might be included this year) and Psychonauts.
I know I’ll be supporting them throughout the month and I encourage you to as well. The charitable contributions of Yogscast are phenomenal and there’s little doubt this year will be as brilliant as ever. Head over to their Twitch at some point in December to see the great work they are doing.
