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The voice of Scotland’s vibrant voluntary sector

Published by Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

TFN is published by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6BB. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Registration number SC003558.

Carve a pumpkin for Syria challenge launched

This news post is about 8 years old
 

​Charity urges you to ditch the scary faces this Halloween and show solidarity with Syrian children

We’ve had some amazing social media phenomena over the past few years from #NoMakeUpSelfie to the Ice Bucket Challenge but the latest attempt by a charity to go viral really is heartwarming.

International children’s charity World Vision’s is asking people across the country to ditch carving a scary face in their pumpkin this Halloween and carve a heart shape instead.

The charity wants people to then share a photograph of their pumpkins on social media using the #carveaheart hashtag and donate £3 to the charity by texting HEART to 70060.

The money raised will be used by the charity in war-torn Syria where millions of children are growing up knowing nothing but conflict.

Latest estimates show that over 2 million kids are out of school in the country with thousands facing violence, kidnap and malnutrition.

A spokesperson for the charity said the aim is to turn a “night of fear into a night of lasting hope”.

“As children across the UK prepare to head out for a night of ‘fun’ fear on 31 October, millions of children in Syria live in real fear every night of the year,” he said.

“Join us this Halloween to take one simple action. Carve a heart in your pumpkin as a symbol of hope for children living in fear. Then text HEART to 70060 to donate £3 to World Vision’s work, and turn a night of fear into a night of lasting hope.”