Wolverhampton project donates 700 beds to people in need

The scheme was set up in Wolverhampton in an effort to tackle "bed poverty"

A project in Wolverhampton has donated 700 beds to local people in need over the last eight months.

The Good Night Project started in March after Wolverhampton Council revealed that it had given almost 900 beds to children in the city.

Through the initiative, beds, cots, and bedding are given for free to any Wolverhampton residents in need.

Phil Dixon, the project lead, said that they had seen cases where people were sleeping on the floor or in chairs.

"We help anyone in bed poverty, young or old, whatever background or culture," Mr Dixon said.

The Good Night Project is a partnership between Wolverhampton Council, the African Caribbean Community Initiative, and the Wolves Foundation.

The team has received around 1000 applications since March and the service is operating at near full capacity, he added.

Companies have been generously donating beds to the charity

"I think we had 350 applications within a couple of months. We were overwhelmed," he said.

The scheme currently receives approximately 40 to 60 applications a month and has around 150 people on the waiting list.

For people who need beds more urgently, the project can fast-track certain applications.

"In some cases we get families where mum and dad are sleeping on a chair and there are three kids on a mattress on the floor," Mr Dixon said.

"So in those circumstances we would obviously want to alleviate that problem immediately.

"Or if someone's coming out of temporary accommodation and is literally walking into a property with nothing and they just need somewhere to sleep while they build their lives back up again.

"There are very sad cases, it's very challenging sometimes to walk into those circumstances and see how people are having to live."

Beds and bedding are donated from companies as well as the general public, and the project has council funding so they can also buy new items.

"People are very generous in Wolverhampton and the surrounding areas," Mr Dixon said.

"Companies also donate. There's a large company in Birmingham called Westborn Kinder Valley which donated 10 pallets of children's cots and snooze pods, which will probably help upwards of 50-70 families."

The project delivers the furniture and bedding in a donated former ambulance, but occasionally vans are hired when they receive a large amount of donations.

"It can be overwhelming. We're running on a shoestring," Mr Dixon said. "But it can change people's lives. You do see the change in people's demeanour, particularly children."

He said that children were often so excited they would jump up and down on their new beds, as if they were trampolines.