Inverness computer game fan puts skills to use to help city animal charity
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A gamer with a love for gory shoot ‘em up-style console action has shown his softer side – by raising cash for some furry friends.
Rob Chalmers, a Canadian living in Culloden, generated £1190 for Inverness Cat Rescue by organising a 12-hour endurance session of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege military game.
Some 18 friends from Inverness, Glasgow and Ireland competed remotely in a virtual fight to the death from 9am-9pm.
The pals have taken part in marathon shooter sessions plenty of times before, but Mr Chalmers came up with the idea of a charity fundraiser after a recent injury scare for his own beloved kitty Jim.
“I’ve got a cat myself and she was very badly hurt by kids throwing rocks at her,” he said. “I just realised how important she is in my life and wanted to help as many of them as I could. She’s called Jim because I named her before I found out she was a girl!”
Three of his friends – Bryan Campbell, Derek Joyce and Dave Ramsay – are from Inverness while 10 live in Glasgow, and the rest live in parts of Ireland.
Mr Chalmers, a beer delivery driver and avid gamer since an early age, added: “We agree a set of rules and I lay on the incentive of a few prizes, including in-game currency and a T-shirt.
“I phoned around a few firms like cat food companies and it was so good to see them donate to the cause.
“The good thing about this year’s contest is we had lots of people streaming live to watch the action so we’re hoping the tournament, which we call Siege-mas, will grow and grow.”
Heather Raven runs the charity with husband Derek (69) at home at Creag Dhubh Terrace. She said: “We weren’t aware of what Rob was planning, so this is just fantastic news.
“We have a few generous supporters who we rely on greatly, so the good people like Rob do really is immense.”
