When Laura lost her friend to suicide, she felt like life had been put on pause, struggling to leave the house or reach out to her mates. She told us how the Twitch community and streaming online helped her get her head back in the game and why she decided to raise money for CALM.
Laura wasn’t a massive gamer before lockdown, but she started streaming at a time when she was finding it tough to connect with her “3D friends”. She found an incredible network in the gaming community following the loss of her friend to suicide and streaming allowed her to do something in their memory.
Hosting a 12 hour stream of The Sims to raise money for CALM, Laura brought in over £3,000 to help us be there, no matter what. She’s on a mission to show the positives of gaming for mental wellbeing:
“After losing my friend I knew I wanted to do something. I’ve struggled with my mental health for quite a few years and some of my favourite people live with depression. There’s always this fear that you’re not going to know what’s going through somebody’s head.
“You could be speaking to them on a daily basis and never know how they feel, so it felt right to raise money for CALM. So many people feel alone and knowing that they’ve got somebody at the other end of the phone is priceless.”
Thousands of people join Laura’s channel from around the world, but she’s gained more than followers through streaming, she’s also found a community who are able to talk about what’s going on in their heads.