One Special Day: SpecialEffect’s 15th Anniversary
SpecialEffect’s One Special Day is always a big day in the games industry, and as it was an extra special year for SpecialEffect, their 15th anniversary, we wanted to do something special to commemorate the occasion and raise as much money as possible towards this very worthy cause.
After some brainstorming amongst the team, we came up with a fun filled schedule for the 7th October, designed to bring the team together and get money in the pot for this amazing charity.
⚠️ Spoiler alert! Check out our TikTok of the day's events for a real insight into the fun!
The Dress Code
This part of our day needs little explanation, but the first rule for One Special Day at Skillsearch HQ was to come in your PJs/comfies. Which was wholeheartedly embraced by much of the team! Keep your eyes peeled for our TikTok fashion show coming soon...
The Auction
First up, a week in advance of the big day, we held an auction. The prize for the highest bidder being to dress our CEO, Richard up for One Special Day, in a fancy dress outfit of your choice.
After some back and forth on the auction room floor, the highest bidder was found – our Games & Interactive Director, Giles. And from the look on his face, we knew he had something great up his sleeve…
Sure enough, come 9am on the 7th, Richard emerged in his outfit for the day ahead – an inflatable dinosaur costume.
As amusing as this was for the rest of Skillsearch HQ, after a couple of hours, Richard requested a change… And Giles produced the second outfit of the day – a crab costume.
We have to admit Richard really did get into the spirit as he spent the rest of the day walking sideways – really getting into character!
The Breakfast
The next item on our schedule was a full English breakfast, cooked by our ops and marketing team in the office. Bacon, sausages, eggs, beans, hash browns and toast were all on offer, complete with vegan options and condiments.
Despite a busy and mildly stressful morning, the admin team successfully dished up a hearty breakfast for 22 members of our Brighton HQ – raising £120 for SpecialEffect on top of the auction for Richard’s outfit.
The team have since requested we make the office full English a weekly thing 😂
The Bake Sale
Once 12pm hit and our breakfasts had gone down, it was cake time.
The team really came together on this one as everyone had donned their chefs whites in honour of this part of the day. Check out the hearty spread we cobbled together 😍
Cakes were on offer for between 50p and £1, but many of us decided the best way was to put £10 in the pot and treat the bake sale like an all you can eat buffet 😂
The Bingo
The last thing on the agenda for the day was lunchtime bingo.
This was the one event that our two covid patients stuck at home were able to join in with, so we got them on a video call and started the game!
There were two prizes on offer – the first to complete a line won a bottle of fizz. Congratulations to Jake!
And the first to complete a full house won a voucher to have an early finish at work on a day of their choice. By this point in the game tensions were running high and with many people having one number left on their cards, this was only going to go one way… Two winners! Congratulations Wade and Dan!
All in all it’s safe to say our One Special Day extravaganza was a success, and we’ll be back next year! Thanks to the teams efforts, we raised an impressive £457.02 (the extra 2p being courtesy of the outfit auction!). And on top of this, our CEO, Richard kindly offered to have the company match the donations made by the team – bringing our donation total for SpecialEffect to a massive £914.04!
Supporting the incredible work SpecialEffect does is very close to our hearts here at Skillsearch, and we’re proud to have been able to contribute to this incredible day for the industry.
Want to find out more about SpecialEffect and see how you can help? Check out their website here, and their One Special Day site here, for all the details.
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