Culture & Entertainment

This virtual winter wonderland helps sick children

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CAN’T GET THE KINDS off “Minecraft”? Wish the family could do something together over Christmas? Are you yearning to explore a Winter Wonderland – but stay safe at the same time? This could be your answer.

Great Ormond Street Hospital has, with the help of US-based global computing giant NVIDIA, opened a virtual winter wonderland – on Minecraft. Now, rather than get the kids off the computer, you can join them, and the whole family can enjoy a range of interactive rides, attractions and quests.

You can help Santa, spot the references to seasonal films – or explore a full recreation of Great Ormond Street Hospital itself. The winter wonderland spreads out over a virtual space of 38 acres. It took 300 hours and over 30 million blocks to build. It is free to visit from anywhere in the world.

When you’re done, you can think about the money you have saved in travel and ticket costs and make a donation to London’s world-famous children’s hospital. Their work helping sick children goes on all year, but they are running a “Home for Christmas” campaign this winter. You can donate in the wonderland itself, via a QR code, or via the link below.

Liz Tait, Director of Fundraising at GOSH Charity, said, “Every child should have the chance to be at home with their families for Christmas Day. By donating to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity this Christmas, you'll be helping fund vital resources that can help get seriously ill children one step closer to home as well as helping to bring that special Christmas magic to children at GOSH whose treatment needs to continue over the festive season. Thank you.”

●To download the NVIDIA RTX Winter Wonderland in Minecraft, go to:
Winter World

●To donate to Great Ormond Hospital for sick children, go to:
Donate

●To catch up with the news in East London, go to:
East London News

●Watch East London’s weekly news magazine programme,
live at 10pm every Tuesday and on demand all week:
The Tuesday Show

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