A Christian charity is aiming to 'reclaim' Halloween for the gospel while at the same time raising awareness of the plight of vulnerable children worldwide.

Three months before Halloween, which is actually now the third biggest 'retail moment' of the year, World Vision UK is urging churches to use the event to engage more children with the good news of Jesus Christ.

The charity is launching a new 'character', Patch the Pumpkin, and offering resources for churches that want a 'different' approach to Halloween from the usual secular approach 'trick-or-treat' and ghoulish children's costumes.

Chine McDonald, head of Christian influence and engagement for World Vision UK, said: 'We understand that Halloween can be a tricky time of year, especially for churches.

'But we wanted to create Pumpkin Heroes to equip churches with great Bible-based resources that we hope will help them use that time of year to bring hope and light to children in their communities.'

The resources include a guide for worship and other church leaders, a fully illustrated story book written by former BBC writer Nick Page, a story-time film narrated by The Night Manager star Natasha Little and a 'Pumpkin Heroes' hunt including Bible verses and prayers, recipes and crafts.

Each of the resources are available to download for free here.

McDonald said: 'The vision is not only to create activities for kids, but to inspire them with the good news of the Christian faith and to introduce them to stories of other children like them living in different parts of the world. Our prayer would be that this Halloween, Patch and his friends can genuinely help churches create a more hope-filled narrative and get the children in their church excited about sharing God's love with others.'

World Vision UK works to improve the lives of the world's most vulnerable children by working closely with communities to tackle the root causes of poverty. The charity works alongside communities in nearly 100 countries to bring about long-term change and responding to emergencies that affect more than 250 million people around the world each year.