Monopoly-hating fundraiser to tackle 450 board games for Kettering charity with 24-hour session

Kettering board games fanatic Gav Price will attempt to stay awake for 24-hours this weekend to complete a fundraising marathon for a local youth charity Youth Works.

Gav, a volunteer with the charity, will stay up for 1,440 minutes to play games against all comers at Johnny’s Happy Place (JHP) HQ in Rockingham Road.

He’ll use his vast collection of more than 450 games as one half of Boards of Kettering, co-owned with Dez Dell, hosts of the board games cafe night held at JHP once a month.

And despite his dislike of some of the more popular games such as Monopoly, Gav is preparing to play any of the multitude of games with anyone who turns up – day or night.

He said: “There’s going to be a large selection of games with modern classics with tile-laying games like Carcassone, Uno and games like Exploding Kittens and Muffin Time – a more exuberant version – it’s like Exploding Kittens on Red Bull.”

Among the 450 games on offer are ‘Co-op’ games where players cooperate, hidden traitor games, deck building, tile laying, family games and so-called ‘push your luck’ games like Yahtzee.

Gamers are free to join Gav for all or part of the 24-hour session, with the venue open to all for any type of table-top gaming. He will even play Monopoly if requested and doesn’t mind if he loses at any games.

He said: “Monopoly was the first board game I ever got. I remember getting it for my birthday, it was the classic version. I played with my siblings but they cheated. As an adult I find it a bit repetitive and takes too long.

"I don’t mind losing, in fact I usually lose games. I’m not really competitive, it’s more the social aspect I enjoy.

“There will be plenty of games and tables available for all ages, with a vast selection of board games from my collection to play – from Azul to Yahtzee."

Guests can bring their own games if they prefer, as well as their own refreshments – there will also be a raffle to boost donations for Youthworks.

Gav, a student occupational therapist who runs a weekly games night for Youthworks called Throne of Games, uses games as a way of teaching social skills like taking turns and how to ask questions and to improve cooperation.

He added: “I wanted to do this because I love a challenge. I love board games and wanted to raise some money for this great local charity.”

The drop-in 24-hour games marathon takes place at Johnny’s Happy Place Café at Keystone, 97 Rockingham Road, Kettering, NN16 9HX from 9am Saturday to 9am Sunday.

Entry is by a voluntary donation with all proceeds going to Youth Works services.

Youth Works acts as a resource for young people living in Northamptonshire, providing wraparound education, advocacy, support and recreation activities from accessible venues that have local young people and their families at the core.

For more information and to donate to the charity go to https://localgiving.org/charity/youthworks/.