Thousands of visitors turned up to The Centre, Livingston last weekend, (20th and 21st July) to meet two giant, 9ft Transformers who made a very special guest appearance at Comic Con’s ‘Superhero Takeover’, to help raise funds for the local charity, West Lothian Community Foundation.
Following the success of Comic Con’s first visit to the shopping centre earlier this year, the alien robots from Cybertron, which featured in the first Transformers film in 2007 and transformed into cars, made their debut with lots of much-loved superhero characters, including Spider-Man, Bluey and Bingo and Sonic and Knuckles in walkabouts and ‘Meet & Greets’.
The event, which was also attended by over 60 exhibitors showcasing their one-of-a-kind collectables and a variety of movie and television props, was free with the opportunity to donate to West Lothian Community Foundation, which is one of the charities the mall has partner with to run its ‘Jump into Summer” programme of free events like sports-themed pop ups, including basketball and table tennis, and arts and crafts.
The aim of the local charity is to use football as an activity to promote the educational and health development of people of all ages in the community, with particular emphasis on targeting those who are less engaged with sporting activities, to help them reach their full potential.
Patrick Robbertze, Centre Director at The Centre, Livingston, said: “It was great to welcome the 9ft Transformers into The Centre, Livingston at the weekend.
“The impressive iconic characters, along with all the other popular comic heroes were a huge hit with our shoppers, especially the fans, and also our retailers and team.
“It was a great addition to all the other free activities happening all summer at the shopping centre for visitors to enjoy, like sporting ‘try out’ sessions, including table tennis and basketball, kids exercise classes and also arts and crafts and a fantastic opportunity for our charity partner West Lothian Community Foundation to raise funds and awareness of the great work they are doing.”
Ian Bonar from BGCP Comic Con, said: “We are thrilled with our second trip to The Centre, Livingston. Great memories were made with our two 9ft Transformers grabbing everyone’s attention in the middle of the shopping centre, with lots of double-takes.
“We also had the biggest ‘Meet & Greet’ we’ve ever organised with ‘Bluey and Bingo’ on Sunday, as people travelled near and far to get a photo with them.”
Graham Jarvis from West Lothian Community Foundation, said: “Thanks to everyone who helped us to raise funds over the weekend at the Comic Con event, which was great fun!
“Every penny we raise as a charity goes back into helping even more people in West Lothian to get fit and active and meet people which is why we are very appreciative that The Centre, Livingston has chosen us as one of their summer charity partners as it has also given us the chance to raise awareness of all of the work we are doing in the community.”
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