When thinking about what we do, Zarach is focussed on 5 priorities:
Every Head a Bed
Every Head a Bed is our commitment to help ensure all children to have somewhere safe and comfortable to sleep with good consistent access to healthy and nutritious food in order for them to Eat, Sleep, Learn.
We believe that well rested and well-fed children will be increasingly ready to learn. Through the power of education, they will be able to break the cycle of poverty and improve the breadth of opportunities available to their future selves.
We are here to bring lasting and positive change to those children growing up in the grips of poverty crisis through bed bundle deliveries, tailored support packages, raising awareness, advocating policy change and through galvanising people and resources in the UK.
Healthy Holidays
Our families are often in dire financial situations through no fault of their own and the six-week holidays can be a huge challenge. Making ends meet, even keeping food on the table becomes a massive pressure every summer.
Our Healthy Holidays initiative was created to give Zarach Kids (5-11yrs) the opportunity to attend a summer camp where they’ll have fun, stay active and get fed.
I’ve met some fabulous children living through hell but still smiling and behaving well at school. A summer camp would guarantee they had fun and were fed for a week.
– Bex Wilson, Zarach
The cost of the camp is £50 per child for the week. This is a small price to pay to give children a new experience and help families through the holidays.
Project Vantry
Many Zarach Families reached out to us as the sudden effect of COVID-19 hit our communities. The unexpected loss of income caused our families to make difficult decisions; Washing Powder or Toothpaste? Electricity or Food?
Project Vantry was created as our response to this crisis. We converted our vans into basic pantries enabling us to supply essential food and hygiene products; including high-cost items like nappies and washing powder. Throughout this time, we made additional support available to existing Zarach Families and new referrals through our school partners.
In the first 100 days of lockdown, we fed over 1,000 people.
Our emergency provision consists of two options are:
Box 1: Food for 7 days
This box contains the correct ratios of food to create nutritious breakfast, lunch and evening meals for 7 days. It includes a meals card outlining all the meals. This box is designed for families who have no other means of purchasing food.
Box 2: Ease the Strain
This box contains a range of essential and non-essential products and items that will hopefully ease the financial strain for a family who are struggling to make ends meet. It allows us more flexibility to include items that are available to us at any given time.
Whilst we are happy to accept repeat referrals, we do not want families to become reliant on this service. Anyone applying for a repeat delivery should include details of the services are involved and/or what actions have been taken since the last referral in order to move the family forward financially. We use this information to understand the ways we can further contribute to the support plan for each particular family.
Together, we can lighten the load.
Thrive
For some Zarach Families, we are uniquely placed to make a huge difference to their current circumstances. Where this has been identified, we invite them to join our Thrive pathway.
After receiving a Zarach delivery (bed bundle, food parcel or shopping service) and a text with the Thrive video link, we start the following process:
- Ask the question, “What do you need next to thrive not just survive?”
- Build a three-point Thrive Plan based on the highest leverage short-term and long-term benefits.
- Connect with our partners and other community organisations to get things moving.
Zarach Schools
We want our special partnerships with local schools to extend beyond referrals alone. Zarach has already partnered with local schools to offer assemblies, fundraising opportunities, raising awareness and campaigning.
We are looking to develop our CPD and training offer in the near future.