A WEEKLY video gaming event run in Bridgwater, Taunton and Yeovil was presented with the Community Engagement award by Angela Rippon at the Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards.

The Game Changer sessions are the brainchild of independent support worker Alex Roland and are delivered through Love Community Community Interest Company.

The judges said: “They wowed the judges with their infectious positivity, enthusiasm, and strong links to the community.

"They are the pure essence of community engagement."

The gaming events at Taunton and Yeovil libraries and Somerset Film's Engine Room are popular with people with all types of neuro-diversity, learning disabilities and autism.

The sessions Alex originally thought would attract around 15 people have regularly seen more than 40 attend, including students from Bridgwater and Taunton College and people from local adult day services.

They have attracted funding from Somerset Community Foundation and Covid recovery grants via Somerset County Council.

The aim is to get attendees physically active, said Alex.

He added: "We use Nintendo switch and Wii games that get people moving such as Just Dance, but we also bring people together through their love of games and have PlayStation 5 and X-Box consoles for people to play.”

Love Community director Becky Wright, who attended the awards with Alex, said: “Game Changer is a great example of how we can reduce social isolation and increase wellbeing by providing pop-up spaces for people to meet and share their love of gaming and have fun in a non-demanding setting.

"We are hugely grateful to Darren Smart and the Somerset Library service as well as the Engine Rooms who have allowed us to run these sessions for the local neuro-diverse community.

Alex and Becky hope winning the award will raise the project's profile and potentially attract long-term funding from the £4.6billion UK games industry so the it can be rolled out nationally.

Free Game Changer sessions run from 1pm to 4pm every Monday at the Glass Box Taunton Library; 12.30pm to 3.30pm on Wednesdays at Yeovil Library; and 1 to 4pm on Thursdays at the Engine Room, Bridgwater.

For more information contact hello@anvg.co.uk or Alex on 07809 299760, or event organiser lacey.fewing@carechoices.co.Uk