Iconic Halloween fundraiser at Rotherham woman's home to go ahead despite damage from Storm Boelo

A Rotherham charity Halloween fundraiser will go ahead after volunteers worked around the clock to repair damage from Storm Boelo.

Wicked Wonderland is run by Helen Azar from her home on Breck Lane, Dinnington, and raises money for Bluebell Woods Children’s Hospice by transforming her garden into a spooky wonderland for Halloween.

Over the past two years local children have come to marvel at her creations, many of which are hand-made, and have helped her to raise over £4,500 for the charity.

But when Ms Azar awoke on Sunday she found strong winds and rain had destroyed much of the work she had put in to get her home ready for Halloween.

“We’ve been outside all day trying to salvage what we can. We’ve got skeletons that are without arms and witches that are without legs,” she said.

But hope was not lost, and the community which has come to love Ms Azar’s displays over the last two years rallied to make sure she was able to host the event.

“What has happened since has been incredible. We have been overwhelmed with messages of support and offers of help from the local community,” she said.

Ms Azar was determined to make sure Wicked Wonderland would be ready to greet trick-or-treaters on Halloween, and will even receive a visit from the mayor of Rotherham on the night.

She said: “If anything it's made me more determined. It’s given me that inspiration and really spurred me on.”

Wicked Wonderland might now unite the whole community, but it started off as a small and simple idea.

Ms Azar has always loved Halloween but as her daughter grew up she found she had less reason to celebrate, and the decorations began to gather dust.

Eventually she decided to start putting them out anyway, saying: “I’ve got all these decorations that we had for years and I started to get them out just for other people to enjoy.”

One day a trick-or-treater asked Ms Azar whether she was putting on the display for charity, and planted a seed in her mind that quickly spiralled into the massive project that Wicked Wonderland is now.

She said: “It’s turned into something much bigger than I'd ever anticipated, but it’s absolutely worth it.”

Ms Azar now takes days setting up the decorations, and spends the whole rest of the year searching for decorations from charity shops, car boot sales and anywhere else she can find.

This year will see Ms Azar turn a free table acquired from Facebook turned into a spooky DJ deck prop. She said: “I hand-make a lot of the different props, so I try to make it different every year.”

The event now also requires others to help out, which they do willingly and enthusiastically. Ms Azar’s brother helps turn her decoration dreams into reality whilst her mother and step father help with staffing on the day.

This year three previous visitors have now volunteered to help out instead, giving back to other young people in the community.

*Wicked Wonderland will run on Breck Ln, Dinnington from October 28 to 30, from 5pm to 8.30pm, and on October 31, from 3pm to 9pm.