Game of Thrones fandom for a cause
8 June 2019 at 12:00 pm
Despite many Game of Thrones die-hards feeling let down by the long-awaited season finale, fans from around the globe have donated upwards of $250,000 to charities supported by the show’s stars to thank them for their performance.
A fundraising campaign in honour of Emilia Clarke, who played Daenerys Targaryen, has raised £105,000 (A$191,000) for the charity founded by the actress, SameYou, in under two weeks from over 5,000 fans.
Clarke founded the brain injury support and rehabilitation charity after she suffered two aneurysms while filming Game of Thrones.
A companion fundraiser for Kit Harington, who played Jon Snow, has also raised £42,000 (A$76,500) for the learning disability support charity Mencap, which Harington is an ambassador for.
The fundraiser description said that because Harington had given so much to the fans of Game of Thrones, they now wanted to give back.
“The fundraiser is here to show Kit that we’re incredibly thankful to him for the sheer amount of love and skill he put into Jon Snow for us to enjoy,” the description said.
Both fundraisers were born through a Reddit community dedicated to the show and the books the show is based on.
It’s the same community that launched a change.org petition asking for the final season of the show to be re-written, which prompted backlash from some members of the cast.
After finding out about the fundraiser at the £38,000 (A$69,000) mark, Clarke posted to Instagram to thank her fans and said they had made her “day, week, month, year and decade”.
“I am one very lucky lady to have such kind, generous, shining spirited fans who are raising money for my charity,” Clarke said.
“I couldn’t think of a more beautiful way to wave goodbye to the mother of dragons than with this step towards making brain injury sufferers feel less alone.”
She then posted a follow up video to her Instagram, singing along to the song, Simply the Best, when the fundraiser reached £100,000 (A$182,000).
The organiser of Clarke’s campaign, elle_ellaria or Sarah, told BuzzFeed News she thought the campaign had peaked when it hit £38,000, and it was a testament to the enduring support for the show and the stars in it.
“Seeing it hit 100k and keep climbing just fills my heart with joy,” Sarah said.
The Reddit community has now launched an initiative to have the donations matched by HBO, WarnerMedia, Sky Atlantic.
The companies are yet to respond.
