HALLOWE'EN has arrived early in one Tynedale town, but don’t be alarmed by the newest residents - they come with a positive purpose.
For schoolchildren and members of the youth club in Haltwhistle have collaborated to lift the spirits of residents by creating a scarecrow trail and spooky shop window displays.
Children at the youth club have spent the past month creating ‘spooktacular’ interactive shop window displays, and say their work promises to be a visual treat for shoppers, while providing a fun trail for families.
The launch of the first ‘Haltwhistle Annual Scarecrow Trail’ has also been heralded with new residents appearing in all corners of the town.
Residents are invited to create their masterpieces in their gardens and yards, and contact the school with details to be added to the official trail in the hope of winning the ‘best scarecrow trophy’ which will be awarded on November 5.
Participants are invited to visit Just Flowers, on Main Street in Haltwhistle, from the October 27. Spot the scarecrows and spooktacular displays to be entered into a prize draw (drawn at 12 noon on the October 31).
Chairwoman of Haltwhistle Academy Parents and Teacher’s Association (PTA), Rhyanna Shield, said: “We’re all very excited about the new ‘faces’ popping up around our town.
“The PTA are keen to highlight this event is a collaborative one. We are working with Young and Sweet youth club to provide an event to include all the community, with the young people creating interactive artwork to be displayed as part of our trail in local businesses windows.
“The team at youth club have also kindly donated the prizes for a hamper for the winner of the prize draw.”
Ayesha Jackson, from Young and Sweet, said the trail will provide family fun throughout the town and encourage people to shop local.
“We decided to do something where we could involve the community and they could see the work we do too,” she said.
“The children have been creating decorations which will then be put in shop windows on the high street.
“The Haltwhistle Carnival normally do something with shop windows but ‘s not on this year so we wanted to carry on that tradition.”
Each shop window display will include riddles and clues for participants to guess and tick off in their quest for the top prize of a bumper Halloween hamper.
Halloween activity sheets are available for £2 from Just Flowers on Tuesday October 27.
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