As Hallowe'en approaches next month, churches around the UK are gearing up to provide wholesome alternatives to the emphasis on the dark side of the season.

One of these is offered by World Vision UK, which has today launched an updated resource to encourage churches to use Halloween to engage more children with the good news of the gospel. The international children's charity also aims to use this opportunity to raise awareness of the plight of vulnerable children around the world.

The Pumpkin Heroescampaignis now in its second year. Spokeswoman Beverley Jarvis-Pearson said: 'Last year we saw over 2,000 churches get involved with the Pumpkin Heroes campaign, and the feedback was incredibly positive. We understand that Halloween can be a tricky time of year, especially for churches. But we wanted 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 resource pack includes a leaders guide, a fully illustrated story book, a cartoon film featuring the voices of Christian authors Adrian and Bridget Plass, a Pumpkin Heroes Hunt including Bible verses and prayers, sing-along worship song and many other activities such as recipes and crafts. The resources are available to download for free at www.pumpkinheroes.com.

Adrian Plass, a World Vision ambassador, said: 'We love Pumpkin Heroes – it is a truly imaginative, entertaining and instructive bundle of resources which we are sure children around the country will enjoy enormously.'