A County Durham charity set up a pop-up Halloween shop this week to help raise money for its food bank.
Bishop Auckland charity The Angel Trust opened its pop-up Halloween shop on Wednesday October 26 to help raise money for its food bank and other organisations.
As part of this, the charity is selling spooky costumes for £2, along with other trinkets and decorations for anywhere between 50p and £1.
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Julie Errington, fundraising manager at The Angel Trust, said: “It’s been lovely, we’ve been quiet and busy in equal measure, but the people who have come have been really lovely.
“Everyone seems really happy that we have the store, and everyone is also very interested in the Christmas store, so that’s good.
“People are struggling with their daily bills and no one really has extra money.
“Because our products are heavily discounted, people have been able to come and buy products that they might not have been able to buy in general, so that they can have Halloween parties with their families.
“We have seen an increase in the use of services [in our foodbank] every week,” she added.
“It’s great that we can help people, but it’s a sign of the times.”
She said the charity had already received a lot of Halloween stock as donations and decided to put it to good use for their pop-up store.
Meanwhile, the charity has so far raised over £1,000 and will be open late tonight, tomorrow and on Halloween before closing for a week.
To get in the mood, the shop sells costumes, light-up balloons, decorations, bowls, garlands and even skull-shaped mugs.
Money raised will help cover the running costs of The Angel Trust, as well as fund their food bank and community pantry.
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For their pop-up Christmas shop, Ms Errington told The Northern Echo they expect to be open from mid-November until Christmas Eve.
Later this year, The Angel Trust’s Christmas Toy Appeal will also run from the pop-up shop, where people donate new toys to distribute to underprivileged children in Darlington.
In addition, toys will also be donated to children’s homes and centers for homeless teenagers.
Last year 15,000 toys were donated as a result of the appeal and the charity hopes to do better this year.
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