Hundreds of hobbyists, gamers and collectors flocked to Timaru’s Scottish Hall last month to geek out for a good cause.
Organised by Charlie Rawstorn and Jo Lloyd from The Shiny Squad and Nikki and Phil Brown from Mana and Meeples, WishCon was a new pop culture and gaming convention that aimed to raise money for charity and bring people together to celebrate their hobbies.
The event featured activities and attractions like Beyblade battles, Dungeons & Dragons adventures, a board game library, various vendors, Pokemon TCG ‘‘learn-to-play’’ sessions, a cosplay and dress parade, as well as art and creativity competitions.
Ms Brown said 700 people attended throughout the day and the event raised $5000, which will be donated to Make-A-Wish New Zealand.
‘‘I had a few personal goals I wanted to reach. I would have been happy with 250 people and my stretch goal was 500 people, so the fact we managed to get 700 was amazing.
‘‘We had no idea what to expect, but Timaru showed up in such a big way and it just goes to show you how much people were crying out for something like this in the community. It was just so cool, it was awesome.’’
She said they received a lot of positive feedback about the event.
‘‘One of the comments that stood out to me was from one of the winners of the raffle board games that we gave out. She was there the whole day and when I gave her the game she said it was just so amazing to have such a great day of playing games and then not have to drive two hours to go home.
‘‘She was like, the fact that it was local and that she was able to enjoy what she loves in Timaru was just really special for her, which was so cool.
‘‘A lot of people also didn’t know certain things even existed or were popular in Timaru. There is a local Warhammer club here in Timaru that has now managed to get a whole new bunch of people to come and try the game and same with a lot of the other hobbies like Magic the Gathering for example.
‘‘A lot of these groups thought they were on their own, when actually there’s a massive community out there.’’
After the success of the inaugural event, Ms Brown said they would be looking to go bigger and better next year.
‘‘We’re going to look for a bigger venue. We’re going to aim higher for the number of people and probably make it a weekend long event as well.
‘‘We will also choose a different charity next year as well to support, so keep an eye on our socials for announcements.’’
