THE owner of a small entertainment business in Cumbria has gone from strength to strength since starting during lockdown.

Luke Southward, the owner of Nerfscape, will be finishing the year off with three fun-filled events across the county.

Luke, who works full-time as an engineer in Whitehaven, started Nerfscape during lockdown in 2020.

Since then, he has held several events in three main locations: Whitehaven, Carlisle, and Barrow-in-Furness, and has plans to expand the brand further.

On why he started the company, he explained: “I wanted to create something different that nobody’s done before.

“Nerf is massive in America but it’s not taken off here.

“Kids have Nerf guns but nothing to do with them.”

Luke said Nerfscapes offers scenario-based party events for kids to use Nerf toys in a more focused, team-led way via games, instead of just shooting each other wildly.

Luke added: “They’re not just left alone to shoot each other, I wanted to create an experience that was memorable.

“We create a real battle atmosphere which is enjoyed by kids and adults, promotes good leadership qualities, and they can make friends.

“It’s fully led by our team, and we play lots of games and scenarios like capture the flag, but for Christmas, we put on festive events like ‘find Santa’s presents’.

“It’s really exciting.”

Starting Nerfscapes in the middle of lockdown in 2020, he explained that this was no easy task.

“With all the quarantines, we struggled, so we created a package called Nerfscape at Home, and it had all the inflatables included, and we put in an instruction manual to show people how to play the games,” he said.

Nerfscape events involve lights, inflatables, music, and luminescent paint, and there are events catering to young kids, through to teens, and even adults.

Every Nerfscape attendee is given protective eyewear, a coloured bandana, and you get to choose your own ‘blaster’, which shoots painless foam darts instead of bullets.

His plans for the future are to expand and become a franchise, with Nerfscape being a name across the UK, not just in Cumbria.

The December events include December 27 at the St Bees School sports hall, December 28 at Hoops Basketball Centre in Barrow-in-Furness, and December 29 at Harraby 3G in Carlisle.

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