Mansfield woman's 432-game bingo marathon raises £3,000 for pet bereavement charity

Yvette Price-Mear, 57, hoped to set a Guinness world record at Beacon Bingo in Cricklewood, London, in a bid to raise funds for her pet bereavement support charity.

The eight day event turned into nine, and Yvette took part in 18 bingo sessions, raising £3,050.

The proceeds will be shared between Pet Bereavement Support, which Yvette founded 26 years ago and BACTA ,who raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Royal Marsden Cancer Hospital, the Teenage Cancer Trust and the Rays of Sunshine.

Grandma-of-three Yvette, who is a shared lives carer alongside her husband, said; “The amount raised from this bingo-a-thon is being split equally between the two chosen charities.

"For a small charity like Pet Bereavement Support the money is a lifeline, it’ll pay for our running costs for almost a year.”

"I played 432 consecutive games of Bingo, dabbing my books well over 25,000 times.

"The club did extra bits of fundraising and Orville, one of the venues bingo callers, sang acapella and managed to raise another £250!”

"It was an amazing experience. I spoke to lots of wonderful people who shared their stories with me relating to all of the charities I was raising money for, and had some really meaningful conversations.

"I even dried a few tears as people told me their experience of pet bereavement, which is an occupational hazard where ever I go as you might imagine."

Steve Lightfoot, general manager of Beacon Bingo Cricklewood, said: “When Yvette approached us with her idea and aim, we knew immediately we wanted to be part of it.

"We’re proud to not only host the bingo sessions, but also sponsor Yvette.”

“The charities she has chosen, BACTA and Pet Bereavement Support, are fantastic and very worthy of the money raised.

We’re always happy to support customers with their charity ventures and ideas.”

The bingo-a-thon was sponsored by Beacon Bingo Cricklewood, who provided the bingo books for free on each session, as well as adding just over £1,000 to the money raised throughout the event, and the Nottingham Pet Crematorium, who have donated an extra £200.

Yvette i s currently waiting for verification from Guinness World Records, to see if her attempt has set a new record for the most consecutive games of bingo.