A Better Bedtime Story: Helping Children Get the Rest They Need This Summer
It’s not a novel concept to say that life is made up of a series of transitions.
As a primary school teacher, transitions are at the forefront of my mind as we approach the summer holidays. Children are closing one chapter and preparing to begin another. They’re saying goodbye to the teachers who have guided them through the year and getting ready to meet new ones. We’re preparing to welcome a fresh class of four-year-olds as they begin their story with us, while helping our Year 6 pupils turn the page on primary school and step into the next chapter of their education.
But transitions don’t always have to be so monumental or neatly defined. Life is full of transitions, big and small.
Yesterday, my story involved attending a lecture on leading transformation at the University of Buckinghamshire. Today, it involved attempting to shield children from the sight of a half-eaten pigeon that had mysteriously appeared in the middle of the playground. (I know what you’re all wondering. After reviewing the CCTV footage, I can confirm it was the fox who dunnit, not the Year 6 football team. This time!)
These are small transitions. Small moments that take us from one scene to the next. One task finished, another beginning. One page turned, another waiting to be written. For the most part, they pass without much notice.
But sometimes a small action can change the narrative completely.
How One Conversation Changed a Child’s Bedtime Story
One such moment happened over nine years ago, when a little boy spoke up. It’s a story many of you may have heard before. It’s a story I make no apologies for telling again, because, in a lot of ways, it’s the story of Zarach.
Back in 2017, I had a conversation with a little boy in my year 6 class to ask him if there was a reason he wasn’t being his usual self that day. I asked him if maybe he could be tired. He looked up at me and said, ‘Miss, I’m always tired, I don’t have a bed’.
I spoke with the little boy’s mum, Gena, who explained that after being the victim of crime, the family had been left without a home. Other than the clothes they could carry, they had nothing. She was doing her best but starting from scratch.
I knew I had to do something, and when I couldn’t find any services that could help with beds, I turned to friends and family. We knocked on factory doors and harnessed favours until I had the beds I needed. I turned up to Gena’s house in my Dad’s van, ready to slot the missing beds into the otherwise complete bedroom. Perhaps between wardrobes, or a chest of drawers, and the job would be done.
When mum invited me inside, I realised how little I knew about the family’s situation.
The kitchen contained a single white plastic garden chair, which mum stood on, removing the only working lightbulb, so that they would be able to see where to put the beds upstairs. That single white plastic chair was the sole piece of furniture in the family’s house.
But at least now they had beds.
That night, for the first time in a long time, that little boy had somewhere safe, warm and comfortable to sleep.
For many people, myself included, that might have been the end of the story. Problem identified. Problem solved. Time to move on to the next thing. But not for Gena.
Around 12 weeks later, she arrived at the school gates with cash rolled tightly in her hand. She’d secured work and started a college course, and wanted to pay me back. I refused, but Gena insisted; she wanted me to use the money to help the next family that needed it.
Because of that conversation, I couldn’t stop thinking about this family, how they’d gone under the radar for so long, and I wondered how many other families were in similar circumstances.
We know now that the figure is alarmingly nearly 900,000 children.
Because of that single act of courage, one child speaking up became the first chapter of something much bigger. It gave a better bedtime story for that family, but it also changed the story for tens of thousands more families who would follow.
Tackling Bed Poverty: More Than 23,000 Children Reached
In periods of transition, it’s important to look both backwards and forwards.
I look back and remember the bravery of that little boy and his mum. Accepting help isn’t always easy. Speaking up isn’t always easy. But because they did, their family began a new chapter and gained a better bedtime story that night.
Looking ahead, the impact lasted for many nights to come. And not just for them, but for thousands more families across the country.
What began with one family has grown into a movement that has so far lifted over 23,000 children out of bed poverty. More than 23,000 stories rewritten. More than 23,000 children given the chance to wake up rested and ready to learn.
Why Children’s Sleep Matters During the Summer Holidays
But the story isn’t over.
This summer, while many children enjoy the holidays, thousands will still be facing bedtime without a bed of their own. For them, the long summer days can bring uncertainty, discomfort and disrupted sleep
In an extract from A British Childhood: How Our Children Live Now, published in The Observer, Frank Cottrell-Boyce reflects on child poverty, on the stability and safety school provides that disappears over the summer, and asks: “Summer is a story that we’ve told for centuries. Is that story over?”
We don’t believe it should be. Every child deserves a carefree summer and the rest they need to learn, grow and thrive.
That’s why we are on a mission to end child bed poverty, helping children get a good night’s sleep and the chance to thrive at school.
As we reflect on the chapters behind us and look ahead to those still waiting to be written, I’m asking for your help.
Will you help us give another child the chance to begin a better bedtime story?
If you join with us today and donate just £12.50 a month, in a year, you could have provided the funds for a bed bundle to another child who needs one.
Another child who needs the chance to begin a better bedtime story.
