A collaboration between us and a children’s early years development charity has transformed a young person’s life ahead of Christmas.
Aware of our ‘Beds for Kids’ campaign, which we launched in 2022, Stoke-on-Trent-based Thrive at Five charity asked us to support a local family with the provision of a new bed.
A young person had been sleeping on a camp bed, or on the sofa at home, for a lengthy period of time, which was reported to be having a serious impact on their education and happiness.
Since receiving a brand new bed package via Emmaus North Staffs, the child’s attendance at school is said to have improved dramatically.
Thrive at Five – which was founded in 2018 – aims to help children in their early years develop strong foundations for life and learning. Their Partnerships and Programme Lead, Patrick Myers, said: “We had been supporting the family who came to us requiring a bed and knew about Emmaus North Staffs ‘Beds for Kids’ campaign, so we approached them to see if they could help.
“When they said they could we were so happy to then help the family with a children’s bed, which came with a new mattress and bedding – and was amazing.
“Prior to this the young child had not only been suffering from lack of sleep, but had also been experiencing pain from sleeping on a camp bed or the sofa at home. This was really affecting his school life as well as his own happiness.”
Patrick added: “The school where the child goes to has since reached out and passed on thanks from the mother, who was deeply appreciative and has said how much it has helped. Her child is now attending school better and is much happier – which is great news.
“Thanks to Emmaus North Staffs and their campaign we were able to help.”
John Webbe, our Executive Lead said: “Our ‘Beds for Kids’ campaign has helped to provide hundreds of beds to local families since we launched.
“We launched the campaign because of the demand we were seeing from local families, and no child should go without a bed. Sleeping on the floor or sofa is no way to go through childhood and it can have a serious impact. We are glad we have been able to help Patrick and his team to support this family further and it’s great to hear how much of a benefit the new bed has already been.”
Ever since launching our campaign, we’ve received fantastic support from local businesses, most recently a team of runners who helped to raise more than £6K after completing the Alton Towers 10k race in November. This was boosted by an ongoing festive appeal which sees festive platform, Santa Note, donate proceeds from those who purchase their own special Christmas Card message from Santa.
“The support we have so far received has been amazing,” added John.
“The brand new bed packages which we deliver include a new bed, mattress and bedding and cost £175 each, so the support we receive for the campaign really is invaluable and we cannot say thank you enough.”
In November we also joined forces with children’s bed charity – Zarach – in a partnership to eradicate bed poverty in Stoke-on-Trent.
For more information about ‘Beds for Kids’ visit our web page here or telephone 01782 846111.