Sumo Warrington is fund-raising for Autistica - the UK’s national autism research charity – from Friday 30th July until Sunday 1st August. As our nominated 2021 studio charity, we’re joining their celebration of International Friendship Day which recognises that digital relationships – often established through video games and their online communities – make socialising, exploring, building confidence, and making friends much more accessible to autistic people.

Earlier this year, the ONS reported that autistic people are the least likely to be in work of any disabled group, with just 21.7% in employment. Autistica is working hard to raise awareness of the need for employers to be more inclusive and supportive of neurodiversity and continues to support vital research which will help them to unlock a brighter, healthier, future for autistic people.

Members of our team and their families will be baking a selection of tasty wares to share with fellow tenants at The Base in Warrington (where our studio is located) on the afternoon of Friday 30th July (which coincides with a first-time in-person meeting for some of the Sumo Warrington team). Studio Director Scott will also be be starting a Zwift cycling challenge to ride 100 virtual miles over the weekend. In addition to posting pictures of cakey goodness, he'll provide mileage updates and host "meetups" on Saturday and Sunday for fellow Zwifters to ride along (with a Discord server for chat).

For those that aren't familiar with Zwift, it's a game that allows you to link a (cycling) turbo trainer to a computer/tablet/smartphone and ride with others in a virtual environment. It's a lot of fun (and a great example of digital friendships/communities)!

Please join us in supporting this very worthwhile cause by donating, raising awareness, and (if you're lucky) enjoying some very tasty cakes! Hopefully we can smash the £400 target!