Family Halloween events

Hi Sunshine News Readers,

We hope you’ve had a fab half-term week if you’ve been lucky enough to enjoy it with your little ones! What an exiting and spooktacular filled week we’ve had!

On Sunday, we hosted our long-awaited Chillingham Castle Scarefest Challenge with the help of Spiritus Paranormal Investigators and North East Medium Stephen Crawford who both very kindly donated their time and talents to support our event. We visited the castle for the first-time last year, and it was an absolute SCREAM so we had to return for 2022 with some brave challengers.

We’ll be sharing more about the event in a full Chronicle story, but we had to give thanks to everyone who took part including the Stagecoach drivers who are still fundraising in fancy dress on their buses this week. Hats off to everyone one of you for taking part and facing your fears, it was a pleasure to share the experience with you.

On Monday and Wednesday this week we hosted our second series of Sunshine Fund Families events. Our Family Coordinators Rachel and Bev led the sessions and we’re thrilled at how successful they were once again.

On Monday we returned to the Community Hub at Metrocentre for a baking session with a difference to celebrate The Great Sunshine Bake. Sunshine Children and their siblings were invited to join us to learn how to decorate gruesome cakes and biscuits in time for Halloween.

We had ‘mummy’ chocolate rolls and monster cookies, plus tonnes more spooky themed treats. Our children thoroughly enjoyed getting creative and learning a new skill. We’re sure parents were also grateful that their kids could have fun in the kitchen without leaving any mess in their own homes!

You can also get creative (and competitive) in the kitchen and take part in The Great Sunshine Bake, along with our sponsors, the Grand Hotel Gosforth Park this Autumn by registering your workplace, school, or group to join us. Contact Erin Todd for more information.

Host your own office bake off and vote for your very own star baker or simply host a coffee morning and bake sale to raise funds and support our Sunshine kids.

Our second session took place at Tesco Kingston Park in their Community Space thanks to Community Champion, Karen Colley. Given the feedback from our Summer messy play session, we couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to have a Halloween themed event that was jam packed with slimy, creepy, sensory play for children of all abilities.

Of course, we ensured that every child was able to part in each activity by offering lap trays and different levels of play so that the session was fully inclusive and accessible. Bev and Rachel went one step further this time round and even dressed up for the occasion as a haunting ghost and Beetlejuice!

We loved seeing our children with their Halloween costumes and hope that we’ve succeeded in providing engaging, free, and inclusive fun this half term. Remember, if you are the parent or carer of a child with a disability or additional need, you can access these sessions completely free, simply join our exclusive group, SUNSHINE FUND FAMILIES on Facebook.

Thank you to both Metrocentre and Tesco for supporting us with these events and offering their community spaces free of charge.

Wishing you a haunting Halloween weekend. We hope you get plenty of treats on Monday.

Lauren x