A family's twist on trick or treat in Emsworth | Vicky Meets

I gather your family does a very different kind of 'trick or treating'. Will you tell me more? We take my daughters out around October 31, but instead of them collecting sweets when they go trick or treating, they collect food that is suitable for us to take to our local food bank.

The girls are lucky enough to receive some sweets from the neighbours too, but they are also helping people who use the essential service offered by food banks.

Where did the idea come from? Initially my cousin used this idea in her village on the Isle of Wight. My mum thought it was such a fantastic idea for my young daughters to learn about helping others, so we decided to try it out.

We have done it for the past two years and will be doing it again this year. Each year we have visited a few extra neighbours and local friends, having asked them in advance if they are happy for us to stop at their house while we are out collecting.

Everyone is so keen to support such a valuable cause.

Do you think your collecting for the food bank is even more important this year? We think it is even more crucial this year to do more to support local food banks. So many more people are requiring the great service that food banks offer, with the cost of food, energy and fuel all having a huge impact on how far people's finances have to stretch.

What would you say to anyone considering doing the same thing? We would say this is such a rewarding thing to do with young children. It teaches them the importance of giving to others but also having fun themselves.

Last year we collected enough to fill four large carrier bags full of things like pasta, rice, tins and tea bags. It is such a positive experience.

What do you enjoy about your unique Halloween collection, and what do your children get out of it? It is such an exciting, fun evening when we do this. The girls put their Halloween outfits on and they have a basket each with lights on to collect the donations in.

We all enjoy meeting up with friends and neighbours as we walk around locally and it is great knowing that others will benefit too. We would highly recommend this to other families. It really does encourage children to think of others while enjoying themselves.

Where can we find out more about local food banks? There are now schools and churches that organise regular drop-offs to be passed on to food banks, so check your local newsletters and social media groups to see if there is somewhere on your doorstep that you can drop donations off to.

There is no shame in using a food bank, so if you need to access support, here are some links for food banks in the area – havant.gov.uk/food-banks-across-borough and chichesterdistrict.foodbank.org.uk/

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