‘They stay awake in school’: The children who used to sleep in classroom corners that now have their own beds
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After The Independent’s Christmas campaign last year bought 900 beds for youngsters, one mother says her three children are sleeping much better now that they proudly own bunk beds. Dozens of children have had their education improved and are able to stay awake in school due to the help of a charity in the north of England, who have delivered hundreds of beds to vulnerable families in the lead up to Christmas.
Last year, The Independent’s Christmas appeal bought more than 900 beds for children with the support of our readers, who raised more than £150,000 for the Leeds-based organisation Zarach in just four weeks. Nearly one million children live in bed poverty, with many sleeping on the floor, which has a significant impact on their education and their wellbeing.
With a new bed and a place to read books, play and lay their heads, teachers have seen exhausted youngsters transform into exciteable pupils, while one mother’s children are now happier and more content than they’ve been in years. For Cherieann Pickering, she and her three children had spent the last few years struggling with a lack of sleep as the four of them crowded into one bedroom at her parents’ house on the Warwick Estate in Knottingley, West Yorkshire.
The 25-year-old shared a bed with her eldest daughter Sandra, eight, while her youngest two, Annie-May, four, and Anthony, two, slept on a single bed and in a cot. Being aware of her living situation, Sandra’s school contacted Cherieann after her daughter spoke to teachers about her sleeping routine. Upon being referred to Zarach, her home was assessed before volunteers delivered bunkbeds for two of her children, to ensure they had their own safe space to sleep.