Parents are being asked to swap not shop this Halloween with a new initiative by St Osyth Priory Education Centre.
The Education Centre’s ‘Green for Halloween’ event encourages parents to donate unwanted costumes and accessories in return for picking up this year’s outfit for free at a pop-up swap shop on October 21st.
The following week the Education Centre will host its own Halloween events with a magical half-term family programme combining a spooky tour of the estate’s crumbling ruins and Medieval buildings with a fun hands-on craft session for kids. St Osyth Priory’s herd of rare white deer will be a highlight of the experience, with their iconic role in myth, legend and folklore woven into the tour. Visitors will also learn about the owls and bats who make their homes on the estate – and of course the witches of St Osyth.
Staying with the ‘green for Halloween’ theme the craft sessions are both fun and environmentally responsible as children will make reusable printed canvas trick or treat bags and foraged nature wands.
Working together, the Sargeant family and the St Osyth Priory and Parish Trust secured a Culture Recovery Fund grant to launch the new Priory Education Centre in June and since then the team has run a series of successful school visits and family activity days.
Education Manager Laura Chesover said: ‘The negative environmental impact of Halloween costumes and fast fashion is well-documented. Many costumes are made of plastic-based products such as polyester and are worn only once before being consigned to landfill. We want to give these clothes a second lease of life so that we can celebrate the spooky season in a more responsible way.
‘Our craft programme consciously avoids single-use plastic and has been designed with sustainability in mind. We appreciate our beautiful natural environment at the Priory and will make sure that children learn conservation messages about the estate’s hauntingly beautiful bats and owls during the tour too.’
Tim Sargeant said: ‘We are committed to sustainable practices and are happy to support initiatives that help to educate young people in conservation. The environmental stewardship and sensitive restoration of the park and landscape of St Osyth Priory Estate is a responsibility that the Sargeant family takes extremely seriously; for many years we have worked hard to improve biodiversity and reintroduce habitats for a range of species and we continue to strive to protect and enhance this special and important site.’
Co-Chair of Trustees, Kim Lalli and Conrad Payne said: ‘We hope to show children and parents that making greener choices can be fun and we are confident that the family Halloween programme at St Osyth Priory will be a very memorable and exciting experience.’
