by Molly Kerridge
A mother from Burbage, Leicestershire, has posted to Facebook a suggestion on how to have a Covid secure Halloween for all the family.
Instead of the usual Halloween celebrations such as trick or treating, Anya Pendlebury suggested that local residents should paint pumpkins in their windows, and for each pumpkin a child spots, they get a sweet.
Anya said: “I came across this idea on social media and I thought of pitching it to our community group on Facebook,
“The response was that of excitement and I decided to create an event page and I’m now working on creating a map of all streets involved.”
Anya has a nine-year-old daughter, Sofya, which partly inspired the idea, as she would not be able to celebrate Halloween in all the usual ways this year.
“This year it is so much about the community spirit and mental wellness. Events like this can truly give people a feel of togetherness, which we need so much this year.”
The event proposal has already gained a lot of traction, with people from the Burbage community page agreeing to take part and sharing the excitement, many of them with their own children.
Anya continued: “Sofya, my daughter, is super excited and I am too, to be honest. We are looking forward to starting our ‘crafting’ and decorate the tree at the front.
“For me as a mum, it’s also special that we are crafting and planning together. We can then spend a day going around the village to spot all the pumpkins.
“It would be amazing to see other children and the whole families walking around the village with excitement to find more pumpkins too.”
Anya has encouraged other areas to do the same and hopes for the event to bring together small communities in a way that is safe, but also celebrates the spooky season.
She said: “This year we had to adjust and change our usual ways of doing many things, from going to work, socialising and all of our other normal routines.
“This year hasn’t been easy on many people but it also had made a lot of people to rethink, to slow down, to spend more time with the family and kids and it can only be a good thing.
“So whilst we can carry on being safe and careful, we can also bring some joy to people and that’s what we are planning to do this Halloween at Burbage!”
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