A Brighton-based firm, previously seen on Dragon’s Den, has helped 200 children who had their birthday parties cancelled due to COVID-19.

Gamely Games has been sending out free games and cards as part of its Brightening Birthdays initiative.

The idea came from Gamely team member Dave Perrins who felt heartbroken after seeing his kids’ friends have their birthday parties cancelled. 

The firm plans to repeat this initiative for another 100 children and 100 NHS Heroes every month that the lockdown continues with more information available on its Facebook page.

It is also sending games to be given to 48 low-income families in Brighton & Hove and working with Brighton & Hove City Council to get £800-worth of games to 64 families in emergency accommodation.

Hazel Reynolds, CEO of Gamely Games, commented:

As a company we feel very lucky to still be operating during such a challenging time and we are keen to spread as much joy as possible. We’ve actually seen sales soar since the lockdown began as laughter and fun (which our games provide) has become even more precious.

We’ve also loved hearing that people are using our games to connect with those they can’t see in person – our games Soundiculous and Frozen Unicorns work particularly well on Zoom and other video chats and it’s wonderful to think these games are helping people enjoy moments of laughter and lightness when the current situation sometimes feels so dark.