“Give Every Head a Bed” is Zarach’s commitment to help ensure all children in the Leeds area have somewhere safe and comfortable to sleep with good, consistent access to healthy and nutritious food in order for them to succeed at school.
March is national bed month and it’s the perfect time to raise awareness of the vital work that this local charity does to help local families.
Bex Wilson is a Deputy Head Teacher at an inner-city Primary School in Leeds and she is the Founder and Trustee of the Zarach charity. The Zarach team helps children living in poverty in Leeds, providing them with a bed and giving them a good night’s sleep, as well as an equal opportunity at school.
Stonebridge Homes have been financially supporting the charity by donating money for every house they sell, and in the last 18 months, this figure has reached nearly £20,000. The money is used to provide ‘bed bundles’ that include a brand-new bed, mattress, duvet, pillow, bed sheets, pyjamas and a hygiene kit.
Bex commented “Thousands of children in Leeds are going to sleep hungry and cold and without a proper bed of their own. Poverty is a real problem that has a significant effect on a child’s education. By providing something to eat and a good night’s sleep, we can give every child an equal chance to learn and succeed at school. Having the support of local companies like Stonebridge Homes keeps the charity going, and this means so much to the children of Leeds.”
CEO of Stonebridge Homes, Darren Stubbs added “As a company, we are heavily invested in giving something back to the areas in which we live and work and supporting local charities and communities is at the heart of our values. In this day and age there is no excuse for any child to be living without the basics. Bex and the team at the Zarach charity do amazing things on a daily basis and even though Covid-19 restrictions have limited their work to urgent cases only, they have continued to deliver meals, face masks, home learning items and food shops for the elderly. They are a truly inspiring team.”
During Covid-19, the Zarach charity has delivered:
- Over 4,000 masks;
- Over 70,000 equivalent meals delivered via Project Vantry;
- Over 1,000 home learning items delivered to local schools;
- 300 food shops for the elderly.
Stonebridge’s CEO, Darren Stubbs, is a Trustee of the charity.
