Portsmouth anti-bullying scheme launches at the Guildhall's Games Fest

Event partners GoGeek Events CIC will be kicking off the campaign with partners Portsmouth Comic Con, Portsmouth Pride and The Elizabeth Foundation.

As associate members of the Anti-Bullying Alliance the ‘uniquely geeky’ team at GoGeek Events CIC collaborate to create friendly ‘safe space’ events.

They have long supported and promoted anti-bullying initiatives with an ethos of equality, diversity, inclusion and empowering communities behind everything they do, with a zero tolerance to any form of bullying or discrimination.

The campaign will see a large banner taken to all events attended by GoGeek Events CIC with individuals and businesses invited to sign their name in support and show that bullying has no place in our community or the events they attend.

Founder and director of GoGeek Events CIC, Mark Hendley, said: ‘We are delighted to be launching this initiative with The Guildhall Trust, along with Portsmouth Pride and The Elizabeth Foundation with whom we also partner, at Guildhall Games Fest ahead of Portsmouth Comic Con – International Festival of Comics in May this year.

‘It is so important that people should feel confident to be themselves, not have to live in fear, and know that they will be welcomed and supported in our city.

‘I invite all businesses to get in touch with me who share in this belief and want to be a part of this positive movement.’

While signing up to the initiative, attendees can enjoy a photo opportunity with some of GoGeek’s cosplayers before exploring everything else that Guildhall Games Fest has to offer, from the best in modern, board and retro gaming.

LAN Zone – led by returning event sponsor, Reign Gaming by Novatech, join the LAN party and try out Reign Gaming’s latest Scout class gaming PCs, specially designed for 1080p gaming and esports! Play co-op and versus games and check out the latest flight simulator and racing games.

Board Gaming Zone – explore and play Dice Portsmouth’s board game library of over 100 popular games plus enjoy demonstrations of the hottest new party games for your friends and family, competitions, tournaments and more with a fully stocked shop.

Retro Gaming Zone – Game Over’s brand-new set up for 2022 features every console imaginable from Vectrex, to the Game Cube, Playstation 1 and Xbox with games such as Pong, Pac Man, Mario and Minecraft with gaming tournaments projected onto a giant screen.

Innovation Zone – experience the latest in innovation with the University of Portsmouth and see demos of PC games created by staff and students of the faculty of creative and cultural industries. Plus, join developers in their natural habitat as they create a game in real time as part of the international Global Game Jam.

Indie Gaming Zone – in celebration of the thriving independent developer community, this new zone for 2022 gives players the opportunity to test out a whole new range of games before they hit the market featuring games from a number of developers including Achroma, Snakelaw Island, The Family, Library Labyrinth, Disarm the Base and All’s Well that Ends.

Augmented Reality Trail – produced by Seekers Create, codebreakers and problem-solvers are invited to follow the exciting trail around Guildhall Games Fest to unlock a secret message for their chance to register and win a Nintendo Switch.

Guildhall Games Fest sessions run from 11am-4pm and 5-9pm on Saturday, January 29 and 11am-4pm on Sunday 30.

Under-14s must be accompanied by an adult and under fours go free.

Previous years have sold out. Get your tickets at: guildhallgamesfest.com.

For more on Go Geek, go here: gogeekevents.com.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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