A Leeds charity is campaigning to get a bed for every poor child in the UK.
Bed poverty charity Zarach wants the government to create a 'National Sleep Strategy' to give local authorities the resources to tackle child bed poverty.
The charity - started by Leeds teacher Rebekah Wilson - has helped 1,400 children without beds since launching in 2018.
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Rebekah started a petition in January to launch the national sleep strategy, that has already garnered more than 16,000 signatures as of February 7.
Rebekah wrote on Facebook: "I realised that Zarach alone was not the answer. We needed radical change at central government level if we were ever to make a positive change against bed poverty.
"Three things I’ve held onto since I started Zarach:
"1. Bed poverty is everywhere. 2. Bed poverty is directly damaging hundreds of thousands of children’s only opportunity to break the poverty cycle: their right to an education.
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"3. If enough people hear about the prevalence of bed poverty in the UK, we can join together to make sure those in power acknowledge it and are forced to take action."
Zarach's petition has received a lot of support in a short amount of time - growing from just 59 signatures on January 21 to the thousands it has now.
Rebekah set up Zarach after hearing from one of her students that he and his siblings were sharing a beg bug infested sofa cushion to sleep on, leaving him always tired at school.
Since then, the charity has helped thousands of children in Leeds and its surrounding areas suffering from bed poverty.
This comes at a time when the cost of living is set to rise dramatically, with the Resolution Foundation estimating millions of households will be unable to afford their bills alone from April.
Rebekah said in January: "Just one of many referrals this week: Mum and THREE children living in a RAT and COCKROACH infested ONE BEDROOM flat above a takeaway for FOUR YEARS.
"A little boy with a heart condition and a mum, who the school describe as having a heart of gold, this week finally received keys to a new house but was unable to take the beds from the previous flat due to the infestations.
"When school offered Zarach’s support, mum said, ‘please only give us mattresses and I’ll save up for the frames’. School put in their referral that she became very emotional when they confirmed we could supply both."
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Zarach runs regular fundraising campaigns that reveal the devastatingly empty bedrooms of some of the children they help.
According to children's charity Buttle UK, 30% of families surveyed in 2021 reported struggling to afford beds, an increase from 2020.
Back in 2017, Buttle UK estimated around 400,000 children in the UK don't have their own bed.
Research has found extensively that children who do not have the means to get a proper nights sleep struggle to concentrate in school and do not have as much capacity to learn.
You can sign Zarach's petition here.
Have you been affected by any of the issues discussed in this article? Get in touch at jasmine.norden@reachplc.com
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