Zarach The Children's bed Charity
Who Are Zarach?
Their story began when a schoolteacher discovered that a pupil’s struggle to engage at school was due to having no bed of their own to sleep in. Five years on from being incorporated as a charity, having just surpassed delivering their 7500th bed, Zarach the children’s bed charity, we’re on a mission to end child bed poverty. The cause, and the increasing recognition of bed poverty, has captured people’s attention. People have found it unfathomable and unacceptable that, in one of the richest economies in the world, where there is a right to a good education, there are so many children who are missing out on the opportunity to engage at school and having a precious chance to break the future cycle of poverty due to a consistent lack of good sleep.
Who can make a referral to Zarach?
Zarach have recently changed the referral process for applications submitted. Teachers and pastoral staff in schools are integral in identifying signs and symptoms of a child / children living in bed poverty. So that they have a consistent Safeguarding link, Zarach ask that schools are the only referrers as they enter into the most vulnerable family homes in England. All schools need to contact Zarach to see if they are registered in the first instance.
How does a family qualify for brand new bed bundles?
A. The school have identified that the child /children are living with signs of bed poverty using the guide above
B. Relevant conversations with the family and agencies involved confirm this
C. The family is unable to provide furniture and beds due to the cost of living crisis and various factors. They either have a sudden change in circumstances eg: job loss, divorce, fleeing domestic violence or they are on low income / currently not in employment families.
The Zarach Family Engagement Team will also visit the family home to ensure that they meet the specific requirements of the family - as they enter into the home they often see higher levels of deprivation than originally reported. Zarach will always report back any findings to the school.
Once they have received your referral form they endeavour to review the form and contact the family within 24-48 hours unless it is received on a weekend or last thing on a Friday. From there a decision will be made on whether we accept or decline the referral. For reasons of decline please refer to the element in the booklet listed “Reasons to Decline a Referral” If they do decide to decline, they will contact you via email. If accepted the process is on the next page of the booklet.
Delivery
Zarach will organise a suitable time between 10am and 2pm for the beds to arrive on a set date. When accepting the beds they can only leave the beds with the named parent or carer and not the child (even if they are above 14 years of age). For a successful delivery the family will need to get rid of the old beds prior to the visit and the logistics team will deliver the new beds to the room in which they are intended and check all instructions and parts are present. After delivery around 3-4 weeks later the Family Engagement team will visit the families where they are not engaging in school or the support plan and see where they can help them re-engage back into education. They will always send you the Engagement Plan and keep you updated. The plan is always to have the responsibility with the school Correct Information.
We hope that you agree this is a really great opportunity for us - by combining forces with Zarach we are able to support so many more families in an efficient and the most cost-effective way - making best use of our funding and maximising the support those families receive.
FAQs
What is Bed Poverty? Bed Poverty is when a child does not have an appropriate bed, or space of their own to sleep. We have delivered beds to children sharing with parents and/or siblings, sleeping on sofas or cushions on the floor, beds with bed bugs, or on the floor - we can help!
Is there an eligibility criteria? No - we know you have established relationships with your pupils and families and therefore trust that referrals are only made on the basis of genuine need and if there are no alternative ways for the family to obtain beds for their child(ren).
Can families only receive single beds? Zarach can provide single beds, bunks and smaller wooden beds. We are unable to provide double beds.
Do you only support children? Yes - our hope is that savings from not having to provide beds for their child(ren) will enable the parents to obtain their own bed if required.
Can you only support with beds? We operate to ensure every child has a place to go to sleep each night - and therefore have a better chance to succeed at school. However, if there are other concerns please do speak with our team about these as we work with lots of other amazing organisations that we may be able to signpost you to.
Is information shared secure? All data sent is held on our secure database and will not be shared outside our organisation. All data you share must be with parents consent.
A full information pack and guide can be found -