'My trading cards show is for everyone'

Charles Barrett got into trading cards at a young age, but eventually drifted away from them until grief brought the hobby back into his life.

"Just over a year ago I got back into it. I wanted something to take up my time after the death of my father," he said.

"It was trying to find something to do at the weekends, as my partner does a lot of events as part of her business - so I was left at home bored. So it was trying to find something to fill in the gap."

That itch eventually led the 33-year-old to organise a card show in Wolverhampton, which more than 9,600 people attended. This year, he is bringing the event back to the Mander Centre and hopes even more people will attend.

He said he deliberately decided to host the show in such a public location to make it as accessible as possible.

"A lot of the time, card shows are very private and charge you for entry," he said.

"[Those are] marketed for high-end collectors rather than what the whole point of the trading card game was - it's for everyone, it's for a community."

A sense of community, he said, was exactly why card collecting was popular.

"It is a welcoming accessible space for all community collectors from the youngest to oldest," he said.

"I've had people in their 50s say 'I really like [that] you've brought this to Wolves'. Wolves has needed a show for a very low time.

"I've tried to make it as feasible and accessible as possible. Anyone can come, anyone can buy cards and add to their collection, maybe to get their childhood dream card."

Embracing this spirit, Mr Barrett is hosting card game competitions, when players battle it out in accordance to the various information on cards within their deck.

The contests will also include children's-only competitions.

The event will feature cards from properties including Pokemon, One Piece, Magic the Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh, with 55 tables of vendors on each day of the show.

Speaking of the success of last year's event, Mr Barrett said: "It was mad. We increased the footfall of the Mander Centre by 9,611.

"It was the busiest event the Mander Centre had ever had - and that was creating it off the cuff in nine weeks.

"This year, I hope to double that."

The Second Wolverhampton Card Show will be at the Mander Centre from 09:00-17:00 BST on Saturday 30 August and 10:00-16:30 BST on Sunday 31 August.

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