The Pokewalk is based on the latest gaming craze Pokemon Go (Photograph: Birmingham Pokemon)
A special Halloween themed charity Pokéwalk, inspired by and incorporating popular gaming app Pokémon Go, is to take place in Birmingham next month.
Following on from the successful Pokémon walk in July, during which fans of the franchise walked through the city streets catching Pokémon to raise money for charity, the event will once again be taking place in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
Pokemon Go is hugely popular among ‘trainers’ of all ages (Photograph: Birmingham Pokemon)
However, as it is set to take place during Halloween weekend, the event has joined forces with the Birmingham Zombie Walk team to add some eerie antics to proceedings.
After the Pokémon trainers have scoured the city centre streets hunting for the highly sought creatures, they will all be heading to a frightening family friendly, Pokémon themed Halloween party, taking place at Second Cup café on New Street.
Harvey McDonald (centre), co-organiser of the Birmingham Pokewalk, has joined forces with the city’s Zombie Walk, founded by Jamie Chapman (right), seen here with volunteer Paul Wheeler (Photograph: Birmingham Pokewalk)
Harvey McDonald, the 23-year-old, who successfully co-organised the original Pokéwalk in the city, hopes this seasonal special will be even bigger and better:
“After the massive success of the last event and the popularity of all of the Pokéwalks that have been happening around the country, we hope to raise even more money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital. It’s just great to see people coming together and enjoying themselves; and raising money for a charity close to my heart is the icing on the cake.”
The Birmingham Pokewalk was inspired by similar events taking place across the country last month (Photograph: Birmingham Pokewalk)
The first Birmingham Pokewalk in July, co-organised by Harvey McDonald, was attended by hundreds of Pokemon Go enthusiasts (Photograph: Birmingham Pokemon)
With only a week’s worth of preparation for the previous walk, attendees astonishingly raised over £300, in a matter of hours.
Miranda Williams, Public Fundraising Manager at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said:
“We love how Harvey and the rest of the Pokéwalk team have taken the latest social media craze and ingeniously turned it into a fundraiser. We’d like to say a huge thank you for their incredible support. The money donated from the last Pokémon Go walk will make a massive difference to our brave young patients and their families, so we’re excited for their next Halloween event!”
Event co-founder Harvey McDonald with a young patient from the Birmingham Children’s Hospital, the Birmingham Pokewalk’s chosen charity (Photograph: Birmingham Pokewalk)
The Birmingham Pokewalk celebrates Pokemon and Pokemon Go, encouraging cosplay (Photograph: Birmingham Pokemon)
The Birmingham Pokéwalk in July was one of the first in the UK – alongside Preston, Lancashire and Plymouth – inspired by similar events in the US, India and Europe.
Jamie Chapman, founder of the annual city’s Zombie Walk, added:
“The Pokémon Walk is a great social event for people of all ages to take part in. It’s great to see everyone come together in Birmingham, not only to catch Pokémon but to also raise money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital, which is a fantastic cause.”
The Pokémon franchise was launched in 1996 by Nintendo and has spread to encompass video games, animation, TV and film, comic books, trading card games and toys. This year, it celebrates its twentieth anniversary.
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The Halloween Pokéwalk takes place in Birmingham on Saturday 29th October from 1pm, with an open-to-all family-friendly after-party at Second Cup cafe from 5pm until midnight. You can find the Facebook event page here.
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