Zarach: Charity gives out 50 beds in run-up to Christmas

A teacher who runs a charity providing children with beds said dozens of families had asked for help in the run-up to Christmas.

Leeds-based Zarach was set up by Bex Wilson after she realised some of her pupils had no proper place to sleep.

She said one 11-year-old boy had spent his nights on a bedbug-infested cushion and his stomach was covered in bites.

Ms Wilson said demand for help had risen with 50 beds being sent out in the week before Christmas.

An assistant head at Shakespeare Primary School in inner-city Leeds, Ms Wilson said volunteers had worked flat-out to provide the beds, including 17 delivered on Christmas Eve.

The 33-year-old said families who had contacted the charity had been desperate for help.

"I couldn't have enjoyed a family Christmas knowing there were children who didn't have a bed," she said.

"There were children sleeping on bean bags, children sleeping on floors. That just wasn't an option".

The charity, which also provides food and holiday clubs for struggling families, was founded in 2017 and has raised tens of thousands of pounds to combat child poverty in Leeds.

Each bed bundle the charity provides is made of a new bed, mattress, duvet and pillows and covers and pyjamas.

"The children never cease to amaze me about how excited they get about a toothbrush or a pair of pyjamas."

She added: "We all know if we're deprived of sleep for one night how we feel.

"Over a long period of time if you're deprived of a bed... if children don't have a full tummy and a good night's sleep they are never going to be able to do their best to learn.

"And education is the only way that children will break that cycle of poverty."

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