Esports tournament organiser BLAST Premier has donated $5000 to Safe In Our World – a video game charity that supports players, teams and organisations in the industry struggling with mental health issues.

The donation will go towards helping the charity continue to deliver some of its impressive work in the field of mental and physical wellbeing for the betterment of the wider gaming and esports industries. 

Professional esports athletes and gamers struggling with mental health issues and burnout has become a common theme over the last few years, with the pressure put on elite esports stars ever increasing and players’ schedules becoming more demanding than ever. 

Safe In Our World was founded in 2019, with a mission to foster positive mental health wellbeing and deliver support not only for players but also developers, publishers, retailers and the other people and teams who drive the video games industry forward.  

Some of the impressive work the charity has undertaken to date includes launching a Level Up Mental Health Programme that empowers companies to priorities its employees mental health, creating a Safer Together Discord channel that offers a safe space to interact with fellow gamers and introducing a Community Manager Mental Health Course, which is free for community managers and public-facing roles within the industry.

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The global Counter-Strike tournament organiser set aside fines that were accumulated and deducted from teams during the 2021 Spring Season (February-June) and donated them to a charity of choice. 

Emily Medd, Director of Digital at BLAST, said: “Never has it been so important to protect and educate esports stars and gamers on the significance of physical and mental wellbeing both on and off the server. Safe In Our World are doing brilliant work in this area, helping gamers understand and talk about their mental health freely – we’re delighted to be able to make a contribution to their outstanding work.”

Rosie Taylor, Charity Officer for Safe In Our World, said: “We’re delighted to have BLAST’s support to continue to eliminate the stigma around mental health in games. It’s paramount to have resources available to every player and every employee in the industry, so that everybody feels safe to reach out and learn more about mental health; not only to support themselves but each other as well.”

The charity’s burning ambition is to grow into a default destination for gamers and developers grappling with mental health issues to ask for help, access information, and read about real people in the gaming space who have had their own struggles — and how they have dealt with them. 

BLAST Premier is a worldwide Counter-Strike tournament series that unites all major events, offers opportunities to all regions across the globe and crowns the world champions of CS:GO. Up to 32 teams will take part in the seven BLAST Premier events over the course of 2021 with a combined prize pool of $2,475,000 on the line. 

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