On Saturday 11 July, 10 cute and colourful characters will arrive in the city centre's windows for an interactive story trail.

Gloucester City Council is bringing the MonsterHero Safari to Gloucester to support the city's economic recovery after the Covid-19 lockdown.

The trail can be started at any of the 10 locations using just a smartphone, and the Safari will teach you about each of the MonsterHeroes including their name, story, and superpowers. Once all 10 MonsterHeroes are found, a free eBook will be unlocked, telling the story of their first adventure together.

The Safari works by using contactless NFC data transfer technology and QR codes, without the need for players to download or sign up to anything. Simply tap or scan to play. It also means the trail is Covid-19 safe because the only thing you need to touch is your own smartphone, and there's enough space to follow social distancing in the city centre.

Over 100 cities across the UK are taking part in the MonsterHero Safari project, which has been sponsored by Wild in Art. The project wants to raise more than £100,000 for NHS Charities Together through a minimum donation of £2 per Safari participant. In a time of great stress, MonsterHero Safari aims to provide local communities with a memorable experience that will bring a smile to the community of Gloucester and give them a safe reason to come into the city and raise money for the NHS.

Councillor Dawn Melvin, Cabinet Member for Economic Recovery at Gloucester City Council, said: "We are really looking forward to welcoming families back to the city with this fun, interactive, digital and charitable activity. It is important we continue to support our high street and work towards the economic revival of our city, and this Safari enables families to do it in a safe way during the pandemic. I'm really looking forward to seeing some happy Monster hunters out and about."

Coordinating the national project is Martin Blackwell, former CEO of ATCM and the Charity Retail Association, who said: "When I heard about the concept it just resonated with me and I knew I had to support it. I loved the idea of heroes; the idea of a 'safari on the high street'! I just thought, if something fun like this can help make families feel good about going back out onto the high street and raise money for such a worthy cause then let's go for it."

Locations include:

• Idun Spirit

• Gloucestershire Bike Project

• Kings Walk

• Knobbly Cob

• The Candle Tree

• Eastgate Shopping Centre

• Karas

• Spago Creperia

• Museum of Gloucester

• Gloucester Quays

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