Dundee City Council is promoting a fun and safe ‘Safari’ story trail to encourage families to return to the city centre this Summer and help raise funds for the NHS.
Launching on Wednesday (July 22) families and households in Dundee will be invited to search city centre streets for 10 cute and colourful MonsterHeroes.
Using only smartphones, the Safari allows you to learn each of the MonsterHero’s names, stories, and superpowers. Once all 10 MonsterHeroes are found, a free e-book, that tells the story of their first team-up, will be unlocked.
The Safari works by using contactless NFC technology and QR codes, without the need for players to download or sign up to anything - they simply need to tap or scan to play.
Councillor Alan Ross, Convener of City Development, said: "As Dundee emerges from lockdown, we are keen to help local businesses and attract families to our city centre.
"The safari is designed to get people involved with local outlets who have reopened. We can't have a large event because of obvious safety restrictions, but this trail will allow families to enjoy a fun time out.
"I would encourage families to take part and rediscover our city centre as a great place to be."
Separately, the city council is working on a number of other initiatives that are designed to attract families and shoppers back to the centre.
These include a poster take over, artworks brightening up vacant shop windows, street painting and shop window trails. More details will be 
released soon on these projects.
And only last week, Union Street was closed to traffic part of a council drive to help improve business for outlets as well as safety for shoppers as lockdown eases.
The temporary move, which is being funded through the Scottish Government’s Spaces for People fund, is being put into place as shops reopen and restrictions on pubs and cafes are loosened.
The city’s UNESCO City of Design team will also be helping to co-ordinate the decoration of street furniture in Union Street to try and create a fresh feel for the newly pedestrianised area.
And in another bid to boost business, a council hospitality task force has been established to help restaurants and pubs who want to expand outside seating.
Over 100 towns and cities across the UK are taking part in the MonsterHero Safari project, which has been sponsored by Wild in Art, with the aim of raising over £100k for NHS Charities Together.
Coordinating the national project is Martin Blackwell, former CEO of ATCM (Association of Town and City Management) 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.”
To learn more about the story-trail please go to www.monsterherosafari.com
Dundee City Council
Dundee draws skilled workers from a 60-minute catchment population of 640,000 and has a local population of over 140,000. The availability of a large pool of highly skilled labour is a key feature in the Dundee economy. Flexibility in the labour force is currently more prevalent in Dundee than in Scotland as a whole. All forms of labour market flexibility - part-time, temporary employment, self-employment and shift work - are widely operational within the city. Labour force stability in the city is excellent, enabling companies to plan with confidence. Labour turnover levels are less than 5% and absenteeism averages 2%.
