Bed Poverty
What is Bed Poverty? We often talk about bed poverty but what does it mean?
There are various factors that determine whether a child is in bed poverty and they include:
Families not being able to afford to replace broken beds and damaged bedding
Parents/carers sharing beds and bedrooms with children
Children sleeping on the floor
Families unable to wash or dry bedding because they can’t afford to pay for the energy
In a recent report published by Barnardo's, researchers found that more than one million children in the UK were living in bed poverty.
In every single one of our bed referral requests, there are at least one of the above reasons for the family needing help. Mould on beds and bedding is a common reason due to families not being able to put the heating on because of the eye-watering costs of energy that we have seen over the last few years.
Not having a safe and comfortable place to sleep has enormous implications for a child's wellbeing. It can lead to a child experiencing low moods, feeling irritable, emotional and sad - all of which can cause poor concentration and behaviour in school. This has a direct impact on pupil attainment and young people living without beds are also more likely to experience other forms of poverty such as food insecurity and inadequate housing.
At Forget-Me-Notts, we have provided 1289 beds (so far) to children and their families living in bed poverty. Through the referrals we receive from in and around the social care system, we know that there are many more children in our area alone that need our help.
We love that by taking donations of pre-loved bed frames, mattresses and bedding, we are providing help in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. However, we only take donations of these items that are ‘like new’ as we value each and every recipient and do not want them to think we have provided a bed solution that ‘will do’.
Thank you to everyone who supports us and we are so grateful to be working together to help children in need 🥰
Heather