To Think... kids and bedsheets

[GiggleWhale]

That children this winter who don't have bedsheets should be given a set for warmth?

I know it's a really small thing, but I am currently watching a TV programme on Poverty (Dispatches) and the majority of the children have very limited bedding.

Just thinking about how poor night's sleep can impact learning in huge ways.

That's so sad.

Documentary a year or two ago about a woman who started a charity supplying beds to the many children who don't have one for the same reason (think she's a teacher). Think they've grown to the point the try and decorate the room for them and allow them to choose what they want so it doesn't feel like charity (or I may be confusing with a charity that decorates the stripped social housing of women who've fled domestic abuse).

God no bedsheets, that's awful. I wonder if it's something that foodbanks might want? Either good quality second hand duvets and sheets or new?

@GiggleWhale The more I think about it the more important a factor it is, I think. Added to that that people might not have more than one set even if they do have them and might worry about the cost of washing and trying to get a set dry again in a day...

That's so sad and such a shame.

I know our local foodbanks are not taking them, but I think I am going to suggest it. It would just make such a difference to keeping children warm, well, in school, and the quality of their sleep if all of the aforementioned were happening, thus quality of their learning.

It's actually really upset me.

gosh that's shit. I imagine cleaning sheets can be problematic too. There must be families without washing machines.

That's really sad.
My old or unneeded bedding and towels has gone to animal charities but a lot of my donations were as a result of it being outgrown (character based or too young ) and a child could have really enjoyed it. 😢

See if you have a local community wardrobe as bedding definitely seems like the type of items they'd be interested in (some food banks only take very exact donations)

Maybe check if there's a baby bank near you.

The one near me takes everything including bedding

We have a local organisation here that provides clothes and equipment to families and they often ask for bedding. The only problem is that families have to be referred to them by doctors, SS, school etc and I reckon there will be a lot of families struggling but who don't get noticed.

Ours will take brand new sealed bedding (sheets, duvets, pillows etc)
But due to hygiene reasons they can’t take second hand bedding.

You are joking I hope.

@Valeriekat Of course fruitbat isn't 'joking' and it would be a strange thing for someone to joke about.

The washing machine could have broken and it's not affordable to repair or replace. A family might have had to move in a hurry and doesn't have space in a small or shared home for one to be installed, especially if it's a place that's not designed for permanent accommodation, eg a 'B&B', which for clarity is a room in a shared house that includes a token breakfast pack going by the situation someone I know was in.

Can't understand why foodbanks won't accept used bedding though. As long as it's in good condition, not stained etc, it can be rewashed before being given to someone who needs it and it will be perfectly serviceable. Some people have duplicates of things they decide to get rid of due to space or children moving to larger beds that they'd happily donate to someone who needs it.

If you don't think 'used' bedding can be reused by someone else, then presumably you think that hotels and other holiday accommodation shouldn't be allowed either.

@fruitbrewhaha

Well of course there are families without washing machines - for all the reasons outlined by @BarbaraofSeville above, but people do manage to survive just fine. When my children were born we didn't have a washing machine for the first 5 or 6 years, but we still managed to do the washing and use sheets. There are places called launderettes.

Maybe it's not what you intended, but your post reads to me as if not having a washing machine is equivalent to living in a cardboard shack on the side of a rubbish tip.

Unfortunately I wonder if the bed bug issue would prevent this from happening. I have so many spare bedsheets I'd happily donate. Imagine if bed bugs were spread to these homes where children already live in awful conditions, it could make life even worse for them.

Can't understand why foodbanks won't accept used bedding though. As long as it's in good condition, not stained etc, it can be rewashed before being given to someone who needs it and it will be perfectly serviceable.

I run a food bank. We’re short on space, and we can’t keep everything that people may be short of, which are essential (beds/bedding/coats/undies/socks/baby equipment/microwaves/cookers…) - we could ask for these things and likely be inundated and at a pinch I could (with volunteer help) sort and wash/clean as needed, but if we keep a giant stock of sheets and someone walks in needing paint/a cot/a microwave that’s not much use. I imagine it’s similar at many.

I’ll happily seek out particular items or grants for them if a service user needs, but accepting the items on the prospect of someone needing them doesn’t work without mass storage.

And to address the broader point - it’s typically part of a picture of wider deprivation or neglect. If only it was just a matter of spending £x on some bedding. Would that it were.

There are families without washing machines. (tbh not sure which part you think is a joke)
I grew up in one
Didnt have one myself until I was 28 or so
Laundromats or handwash is reality for loads of people.

Can't understand why foodbanks won't accept used bedding though. As long as it's in good condition, not stained etc, it can be rewashed before being given to someone who needs it and it will be perfectly serviceable.

Foodbanks don’t have washing machines….ours says take used sheets to a charity shop. But no where will take used bed pillows or duvets.

Maybe if foodbank and charity shop could partner? Charity shop washes sheets, passes back to food bank?

There is a Facebook group called Pass It On Kids! m.facebook.com/thepassitongroup/ where you can offer things like bedding to anyone who might need it.
If you happen to be in the Epping forest area then the community surplus hub 3food4u 3food4u.org takes donations of all kinds of home essentials and distributes them without needing referrals.

It's incredibly rare and generally due to issues in addition to poverty. Families get benefit, they are low but sufficient to cover the basics including occasionally buying bedding. The problems really mount when families have a lot of debt they are servicing and/or loose their belongings eg fire/flood (domestic violence charities usually can supply bedding)

Families get benefit, they are low but sufficient to cover the basics including occasionally buying bedding.

No they are really not enough to cover buying bedding in some cases. Just like it isn't enough to cover school uniforms and some of the kids on the programme only had their school uniforms as clothes - no other clothes. They were living in one room in leased to the council student accomodation.

Problems are often not down to just debt / major emergency - it's due to a very poor system that creates further vulnerabilities.

@SBAM we are actually close - thank you.

I suspect many of the families are hand washing clothes, maybe one had a washing machine in their kitchen, but they were certainly still in poverty.