A mum hopes her Halloween costume swap-shop will help ease the financial pressure on parents this autumn.Cherry Matthews is running the shop from her art workspace in Washington, Sunderland.People could select children’s costumes there as well as drop off outfits they might not need anymore, she said.”I’ve got five children and I know how much those costumes cost,” she said. “It was just a way of trying to ease that burden and just make it a little bit easier.”Ms Matthews said she was inspired by a company that lets people borrow reusable tableware for parties, reducing the use of single-use items.”I thought it would be a brilliant thing to bring to our art space,” she said.She said parents now felt pressured by social media to buy their children multiple Halloween outfits each year.”You can’t have the same costume if you’re going to two or three different events,” she said. “Or the kids don’t want to have the same costumes.”Ms Matthews said the reaction to the shop had been “brilliant”.She said people who might not have known about her arts space had been messaging her about taking part.Meanwhile, the children who took part in art classes at the site thought they were in “heaven” when they saw the pile of costumes, she said. She also said the shop would be easy to replicate by others. “If you and your friends have all got children of varying ages, just mention what you’ve got… have a look and see who you can pass it along to,” she said.
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Hopes Washington Halloween swap-shop can cut costs for families
