Safety theme for East Preston pumpkin competition

With events having to be scaled back this year, the retained firefighters for the village have been thinking about ways to mark October 31 with Covid-19 in mind.

They are asking people to create safety warning signs in their pumpkins, following in the footsteps of crew commander Chris Harrison and his daughter Millie.

Keen to see what clever ideas other people can come up with, Chris said: “Hallowe’en is really popular among a lot of the children in the village but we all know that things are going to be a little bit different this year.

“We obviously didn’t want it to pass without doing anything to mark the occasion but we do need to make sure we stay safe.

“That’s why we have decided to hold a virtual pumpkin carving competition and we would like to invite all children in the village to have a think about what safety messages they could carve into their pumpkins this Hallowe’en to remind people to stay safe.

“We had a go with a slippery road surface sign, which was hard work to carve! And we also made a Slow, Children! sign, too. But we think there might be some even more creative ideas to be had.”

Chris and the crew, based in North Lane, are asking people to submit a picture of their finished pumpkin on the station’s Twitter page @station_48 before Saturday or email it to [email protected].

The crew will then pick a winner and arrange for a tub of Hallowe’en sweets to be delivered to the lucky winner, taking into account any allergies or dietary requirements.

Chris said: “We know it’s not quite the same but for the time being, we all need to take extra care and follow the government guidelines if we are going out and about – following the rule of six and social distancing.

“But we hope that this will be a fun idea for families to work on together to mark Hallowe’en and serve as a reminder for us all to stay safe.”

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