FRIENDS of Leigh Gaskin, who died aged 27 from cancer, are starting a two-day videogame marathon today to raise money in his memory.

Mr Gaskin, of Longford Road, Melksham, battled for 18 months with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that affects children and young adults. The former Aloeric Primary and George Ward pupil died last August.

Six of his friends from Bath Spa University are now trying to raise £500 for charity Sarcoma UK by playing video game Halo for 48 hours.

Mr Gaskin’s brother Dan, 24, Leigh Harris, 27, Andrew Prosser, 27, Luke Geech, 27, Rhys Williams, 28 and Mark Daniell, 28 are calling the event Bare Naked Gaming - because they are just having fun.

They are splitting into two teams, playing for points, with only one member from each team allowed to sleep at a time.

Mr Harris, from Aldbourne, studied media and drama with Mr Gaskin. He said: “We wanted to do something for his birthday and to celebrate his life.

“Gaming was Leigh’s passion, so we wanted to bring gaming back to basics with all of us in one room like we did at university, paying tribute to Leigh.”

The marathon is being streamed live at Twitch.TV/Gaskin. All the footage will be edited down to five hour-long podcasts on their YouTube channel Bare Naked Gaming.

The first podcast will be released on March 19, which would have been Mr Gaskin’s 28th birthday.

A JustGiving page set up after he died has raised more than £4,000 for Sarcoma UK. A separate one has been made for the videogame marathon and people can donate at: justgiving.com/BNG