Our hero this week is Aidan, who recently hosted a Warhammer 40k event in Tasmania to raise funds for Parkinson’s. This table-top game is something Aidan is passionate about, and we are so grateful to Aidan and the Tasmanian community for using this event to raise funds and awareness for Parkinson’s research. Together, they raised over $1,000 for Shake It Up to further research towards a cure for Parkinson’s.

We asked Aidan to share about his passion for this game and what motivated him to do something for Parkinson’s. Have a read and be inspired to start your own fundraising event.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your connection to Parkinson’s.

For those who do not know me, my name is Aidan and I love playing Warhammer 40k (Imperial Guard main if you must know). Let me first honour a particular champion of a human being, James Stewart (our ever-fabulous tournament official [TO]), for helping make this event a reality. A special thanks must also go out to the Tasmania community, the Shake It Up Foundation, Area 52 (our venue and its lovely staff), and to everyone who is helping to make Parkinson’s history. I cannot express enough just how, I am not going to swear, grateful I am.

Before I continue, I would like to include a message from James Stewart regarding his experiences:

“In my previous work as a university researcher, I supported some work conducted to study the emotional impact of Parkinson’s on Parkinson’s sufferers. I was struck by the tenacity, determination, and courage of all the people I worked with. I was also impressed by the new technologies emerging to help address Parkinson’s symptoms. For these reasons I was very happy to get behind this initiative and I would like to thank Aidan for his terrific work organising this. For those who want to make a difference I would say: every little thing you can do counts.” – James Stewart 2022.

When I first proposed this idea, I had several other charities in mind and my lovely partner convinced me to do our part to fight Parkinson’s. Parkinson’s affects two people very close to me and I have seen it’s toll on many, many others directly and indirectly. Parkinson’s sucks, so let’s work to end it together. Let’s work to support each other and make a better and brighter future for everyone.

Tell us about the big day.

The event began in the morning and included three matches for each player – one match will last up to 3 hours. Everyone arrived cheery and excited with their large varieties of armies ready to march upon their foes. For those that have not played Warhammer, imagine a sci-fi/fantasy miniature style game that is a hybrid game of chess, scissor-paper-rock, starship troopers, the alien movie franchise, World War 1 and 2, perhaps a pinch of settlers of Catan, and finally some incredibly bizarre science but also very interesting lore. I love this game and I wanted to represent this passion alongside an ever growing want to help those around me in some way. At the conclusion, I was defeated 3 out of 3 games but I had a huge amount of fun and meet more of the community, and of course we raised a large amount.

What advice do you have for others looking to make a difference?

For anyone planning to do something like this, get yourself a good TO and absolutely do not hold back on something safe that you are passionate about. Remember, every bit helps – even a one cent donation is more than nothing. I chose Warhammer 40k because I have a passion for that game. Find something you’re passionate about and why not include something that ultimately will benefit everyone whether directly or indirectly? Please make sure you donate if you can. Every donation is useful, and everything helps.

Could you fundraise for Parkinson’s? 100% of the funds you raise will go directly to cutting-edge Australian Parkinson’s research. Find out more and make a difference.