Livestream your talents and challenges to raise funds!
A kidney patient who has raised thousands of pounds for life-saving research is encouraging others to consider live streaming as a way to support Kidney Research UK while sharing talents, hobby, skills or events.
Leanne, 37, of Glasgow has raised almost £6,000 for the charity through live streaming and says you never know whose life you could change just by sharing your activities online.
Streaming is the new way to unlock talents, share skills and connect with like-minded people. From head shaves to gaming, baking to crafting, there is a whole network of people to link up with and help a cause close to your heart at the same time.
Leanne, whose online name is TheLittleAtari, is a community ambassador for Kidney Research UK.
"Streaming on Twitch and YouTube first started out as something to do on days when I didn't have my dialysis treatment, but now it also gives me an opportunity to speak publicly about kidney disease with an ambassador voice, raise awareness about the importance of looking after your kidneys and share knowledge with others.," she said
“It has also helped me make connections with other streamers whose ideas and outlooks align with my own and with their help I’ve been able to do all of that more effectively.”
Diagnosed when she was four years old, Leanne was born with dislocated hips and folded in half so spent her first few years in and out of hospital getting her hips back round the correct way.
“My kidneys had not grown as well as hoped. Dialysis treatment started when I was eight and I had my first transplant aged 11.”
Leanne has been raising money for Kidney Research UK for some time, but her Twitch channel has been raising money on her birthday for four years. It has grown from streaming by herself, to a team of 10 people streaming together while raising funds, which she is immensely proud of.
“Growing up watching Star Trek with my dad, and seeing the technology it had, my research dream has always been for that little tablet Doc McCoy gave to the lady in ‘Search for Spock’ and she “grew” her own kidney.
"Obviously, that is a long, long way off, but stem cell research is a current thing that Kidney Research UK is involved in. Having the ability to “grow” a kidney from my own cells would be fantastic and I hope one day, that will be something that we can all look forward to.
“My advice to anyone nervous about live streaming is if you enjoy playing video games, chatting with people, playing tabletop games, doing crafts, making music and you enjoy sharing that content with people and want to make a difference in people’s lives, then you should absolutely consider live streaming or making YouTube videos as you never know whose life you could change just by being you.”
Find out more
Find out more about live streaming for Kidney Research UK and fundraising for research.
Get our e-newsletter
Stay up to date with our kidney research news, events and ways to get involved.