Last night, Red Cross launched their latest campaign in an entirely unexpected way, as the humanitarian charity reached into the rapidly growing world of esports. At GG EZ in Melbourne, Australia’s first esports bar, Red Cross announced they have formed an alliance with Australian esports team Legacy to change their name to ‘Loneliness’ for the campaign, and encouraged other esports teams to do the same as the bar became home to a Rocket League tournament.
#BeatLoneliness is the latest initiative from Red Cross, targeting the often unspoken and untreated effects of isolation and loneliness. The campaign’s aim is to spread awareness of the effects of loneliness on health, at a time when more than one in four of all Australians report feeling lonely most or all of the time. As part of this effort, the #beatloneliness project is inviting sporting teams across all sports – including esports – to re-name themselves ‘Loneliness’ to receive a cool ‘Loneliness’ branded sporting kit, with its own unique ‘lone wolf’ styled logo. By re-naming themselves ‘Loneliness’, teams will literally be encouraging others to ‘beat loneliness’ through competition, which also has the added advantage of bringing people together through sport.
“By branding loneliness, you now have something to fight against,” said Adam Ferrier, Consumer Psychologist at the event, “and that can be a powerful thing.”
Nathan ‘Cyrix’ Baxter from Legacy’s Rocket League team, also spoke of how esports helped him grow his own friendships and reach out to be part of a larger community.
“The esports league we belong to has created a community that helps people feel more connected, and less lonely.” said Nathan, “We love the support from our fans too – no one should have to feel lonely, and we are extremely excited and proud to team up with Red Cross to help #beatloneliness.”
Judy Slatyer, CEO at Red Cross says, “Your team, whether you’re a player or a fan, isn’t just a team, it’s also your support network. We are asking teams to join this campaign and play for a bigger cause this season. We’re widening the playing field and encouraging everyone to help beat loneliness.”
To sign up your team, or even if you want to form your own sporting team for the event, you can head to http://www.beatloneliness.com.au to register. Once your name has been changed to ‘Loneliness’, you can receive your free team jerseys to start challenging your league to beat loneliness, both figuratively and literally.
