Highland charities to benefit after Lara’s Halloween retreat spooktacular displays at Inverness house raise more than £400 for Inverness Cat Rescue and Mikeysline
Spooktacular Halloween displays which wow all generations have helped to raise hundreds of pounds for two worthy causes.
Lara’s Halloween retreat has been enchanting young and old alike for 18 years running - with generations of Invernessians popping along to the family home of mum Lara Jayne McMillan to marvel at the fang-tastic displays she and her family set up.
And its 18th Halloween spooktacular continued that run of success - with happy faces all round and more than £400 raised for charity.
Lara, whose Halloween House continues a tradition started by her mother Jennie Young, opens up the front and back gardens at her family home in Castle Heather Crescent every year for charity - with assistance from her son Aden (17) and daughters Alyssa (20) and Layla (15).
This year’s displays were a very big hit, with Lara revealing that the sum raised is over £400 - around double the total from 2023’s family-friendly fun.
“I’m not sure of the exact amount yet, but it's over £400, which is great as we last year raise 200-and-something. So we’ve doubled what we took in last year, which is great.
“I’m delighted because we can split it between the two charities,” she explained, with the cash earmarked for and Inverness Cat Rescue and the mental health group Mikeysline.
“I’m very happy with that.”
She added that there had been “amazing feedback” from those who visited and wandered round the colourful displays, and said one of the big delights is seeing the looks on people’s faces.
“We had amazing feedback from people. On Halloween we had a one-year-old who was absolutely enthralled by it, and his mum had to keep taking him round.”
Lara added that it was “funniest” to see the reactions from older teenagers, who might think they were ‘over’ Halloween when they arrived, “but come out again with a completely different face” full of joy.
“You see a complete change in their demeanour, which is lovely. Grand parents were also saying they enjoyed things just as much as the kids.”
She added that one of the things people most enjoy is the fact it’s different every year “so they don’t know what to expect”.
And she explained that the traditional Halloween themes, which don’t rely on gore, meant that the displays were not horrifically scary and could be enjoyed by all.
