By Zan

Yesterday, Pop-Up Adventure Play held a fundraising event! We teamed up with gaming store Manchester Fort Game and made it a whole evening of awesomeness.

I have worked at Manchester Fort Game on and off for some time, and when they found out that I was part of the Pop-Up Adventure Play charity, they were very impressed. So impressed that they really wanted to support me by coming up with a charity event. First, senior sales assistant Ash suggested we do cosplay for charity, then store manager Simon took the fundraising idea and ran with it. The resulting event featured auctions, tournaments, challenges, cake, the Gamebeast and cosplay.

And so to the pics!

Manchester Fort
All our dressed up staff. Hoorah! 🙂 The Link is meee!
Pop-Ups Fund Raising @ Manchester Fort Game
Look at all the action! Fifa competition, Kick Ups, Mario Kart racing, friendly banter, cake and auctions! Hoorah! 🙂
And of course, there will be play advocates out there who think that this event might be a bit ironic. Yes, video gaming gets a bad rap sometimes, but it can enrich a childhood too. A good chunk of my childhood was spent drawing landscapes for Sonic the Hedgehog scenes on paper and on cardboard and then trying to re-enact them. Video gameplay can enhance experiences beyond the screen and when there is a good balance, then it can make free play even more exciting.
We at Pop-Up Adventure Play can’t thank the folks at Manchester Fort Game enough for their support yesterday. They donated time, space and loads of effort in setting this up for us and promoting the event. Gamebeast too really supported our cause and donated a party experience that fetched the highest amount all night at the auction. And of course, a huge thank you to everyone who came. We wouldn’t have raised so much money without you.
We are very proud to announce that our fundraising effort raised just under ÂŁ300 for Pop-Up Adventure Play! Hoorah! We really couldn’t be happier. And it’s all thanks to wonderful, wonderful people.
Every penny that was donated at the Lock-In last night will go towards our work with children across the world. For more information about our charity, please visit our website, and for more photos from the evening, check out our Facebook page.