Treats for the kids

Covid-friendly take on traditional fun time

A Hamilton man is going to great lengths to ensure Halloween will be as fun as it possibly can be for kids this year despite Covid restrictions.

Kind- hearted Sean Boyd promises to still make the occasion a blast as he sets up his spooky graveyard full of buckets of goodies for children to come and collect.

As well as the socially-distanced trick or treating, Sean will have pre-made Halloween bags and will distribute them by car in the local area to as many as possible. He will also make special drop-offs for any children isolating.

Donations received on the Helping Hands – Hamilton page on Just Giving, an initiative started by Sean to support his community through the coronavirus crisis, will help his amazing Halloween event

– appropriately named Helping Horrors.

Sean has eight grave stones and eight buckets all set up in a spooky Halloween cemetery staged in his front garden on Farm Road.

It means children passing won’t need to chap doors and come into contact with people, maintaining a safe social distance on the night. All they need to do is pick up a bag and move on.

The graveyard will be manned by Sean’s partner, Letitia, who will replenish the buckets as they are emptied, allowing Sean to deliver the goody bags to areas further away.

Sean said: “I had a blast giving out eggs at Easter, but I personally love Halloween and after reading some concerns about Halloween getting cancelled, I’ve put together a few things and hopefully can use that and Helping Hands to keep it alive this year.

“We will be doing colouring packs, key rings, t-shirts, treat bags, competitions and more over on the Helping Hands Facebook page so I’d like to ask the people of Hamilton to get involved by helping us using our methods to put the social distancing and safety into trick or treating.

“We will decorate the front garden, and put our goodie bags in a bowl next to our grave stones so kids can pick it up from there rather than chap the door.

“We will have hand sanitiser and gloves available and we will monitor the Halloween bowls from the door step.”

Sean is also preparing a light show at his house performed with a projector to noise-up the spooky atmosphere.

If you’d like to donate to Helping Hands to help this and similar events, visit: https://www. justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ helpingshands-hamilton