In February 2024, we had the great privilege of hosting the NSPCC’s first-ever Game Safe Festival at Confetti X in Nottingham. On a mission to create a safer online world for young people, the Festival was packed with learning opportunities as well as new ways to donate and fundraise for the UK’s leading children’s charity.
Thanks to our strong links to industry, including the British Esports Federation and EPIC.LAN, and proven track record for advancing broadcast production in esports, we were honoured to be chosen as the venue for the NSPCC Safeguarding in Esports Conference on Friday 9 February and the Game Safe Live Finals on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 February.
These high-level activities created unrivalled ‘Do It For Real’ opportunities for our students, working alongside our Technical team and a host of developers, platforms, industry bodies, esports teams and influencers. Participating courses included BSc (Hons) Esports Production, BSc (Hons) Event Production, and BSc (Hons) Film Production Technology. Additionally, our BA (Hons) Content Creation students contributed by crafting content for NSPCC’s social platforms, further enhancing the festival’s impact.
Take a look at all the action from the NSPCC Game Safe Cup Live Finals captured by Content Creation student, Ria Reddy:
Take a look at all the action from the NSPCC Game Safe Final 🎮 captured by Content Creation Student Ria Reddy 🎥 pic.twitter.com/0h2whfkX7e
— Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies (@Confetti_ICT) February 14, 2024
Founded in 1884, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity. It focuses on raising awareness of topics important to child welfare. It also operates centres around the country that inform and help children.
The Game Safe Festival was the NSPCC’s first venture into esports and gaming, and it follows our hugely successful collaboration Game On! For BBC Children In Need last year, which helped raise millions for charity. The NSPCC is itself a beneficiary of BBC Children In Need and so it’s fantastic to have been able to continue supporting and safeguarding vulnerable young people across the UK.
Ahead of the event, our Content Creation Course Leader, Jacky Gurr, and NSPCC Head of Fundraising, Patrick Weaver, sat down with Notts Today host, Emma Caldwell, to bring viewers up to speed on our collaboration and the NSPCC’s great work in the local community. In case you missed it, you can watch back the interview OnDemand below:
On their show, Notts TV highlighted how beneficial it is for the East Midlands that two of the UK’s top children’s charities decided to launch their entry into the gaming world at Confetti X. It not only shows we’re the best in class, particularly our multi-million-pound esports complex, it’s also helped bring national media attention and investment to the region. Here’s a word from NSPCC Chief Executive, Sir Peter Wanless, on why it was important bringing the Festival to our venue, he said:
“I think it’s a really dynamic and exciting place where it’s very easy for people to engage with one another in all sorts of different ways, whether that’s playing games, chatting over the great food, or listening to speakers in the venue. This is a perfect venue for a 2024 summit on gaming.
“Your recent BBC Children In Need collaboration was part of the inspiration for us wanting to come here and so you’re building a reputation as a venue of choice for activities of this kind, and it’s fantastic to be here.
“There’s an infectious enthusiasm from everybody to put on a really good show both in-person and online. In fact, my son sent me a clip from Twitch because he’d spotted that I was ‘live from Confetti’ (laughs) and so there we go, it’s passing through the generations and we’ve got people watching beyond here as well as enjoying themselves in the building today.”
With the NSPCC’s Midlands hub based just down the road from Confetti Nottingham, and with esports now a huge growth area for the charity, we’re looking forward to supporting the team lots more in the future. A massive thank you to everyone involved.
Are you interested in being part of high-profile industry events and getting hands-on experience as part of your studies? Book onto an Open Day to find out more about all the opportunities on offer here at Confetti.
