{"id":425395,"date":"2025-09-15T04:35:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T04:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/425395\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T04:35:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T04:35:20","slug":"life-changing-project-transforms-bedrooms-of-children-in-poverty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/425395\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Life-changing’ project transforms bedrooms of children in poverty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe room\u2019s a funny shape so I didn\u2019t know how to space it out. I\u2019ve got to try to have a lot of storage because I\u2019ve got both the girls, and we\u2019ve got their toys and stuff,\u201d Maria says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just not very imaginative so I just didn\u2019t really know what to do. I go round other people\u2019s houses and I see their storage options and I think: \u2018That\u2019s cool but I don\u2019t think I could do that.\u2019 So it was about getting everything in that room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Design for Amelia\u2019s bedroom in watercolour. Image: Katherine Pooley Ltd<\/p>\n

The team of volunteer designers used a trundle bed, which has an extra sleeping space which can be pulled out quickly and easily.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe design that Katharine\u2019s team has created gives space,\u201d McCartney says. \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful, but it also has a bed that you can just pull out. It means they have a lovely bedroom together without it feeling like they\u2019re just moving things around. It\u2019s been designed in a way to maximise the space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katharine\u00a0Pooley says that storage is regularly a challenge in family homes. People may be unable to afford items of furniture like wardrobes or drawers, and they may have stored their belongings in bags. Sometimes children have no beds<\/a>, or the bed they are sleeping in is damaged. Amelia\u2019s room didn\u2019t have curtains before or a desk for the girls to do homework or draw.<\/p>\n

Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n

\"\"It\u2019s the little touches which make the room so special. Image: Brooke Murphy<\/p>\n

Transforming Spaces provides a fresh coat of paint, essential furniture \u2013 such as a bed, mattress, wardrobe, desk, chair and storage \u2013 as well as soft bedding, curtains or blinds, and personal touches for comfort.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the thing about all of the families that we support, they are families that really don\u2019t have anything, and they don\u2019t have some of the basics,\u201d McCartney says. \u201cThey won\u2019t necessarily have the right bed. They certainly won\u2019t have bedding, curtains. They won\u2019t necessarily have lampshades, all the things that you would just assume that surely every child has. I think people often struggle to get their head around the level of poverty in London and what that means for families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pooley\u2019s team and The Childhood Trust consult with the family to create a design inspired by the child\u2019s preferences. There have been Spider-Man bedrooms, outer space bedrooms, and rooms full of flowers and rainbows.<\/p>\n

\"\"Volunteers working hard to get the room ready in just one day. Image: Brooke Murphy<\/p>\n

It works on a referral basis, meaning that the families most in need of support get the help they need. Families are referred to the programme by social services, schools, or other organisations working directly with families.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

But with one in three children living in poverty in London<\/a>, McCartney says they get \u201cmore referrals than we could possibly meet demand for\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is so much demand for this kind of programme,\u201d she adds. \u201cIt\u2019s managing logistics and what it takes to get it right, because we want to get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n

\"\"Katherine Pooley\u2019s team in the bedroom. Image: Brooke Murphy<\/p>\n

McCartney says that seeing the excitement on children\u2019s faces after their bedrooms have been redesigned \u201cmakes it all worth it\u201d, \u201call the challenges that come with making something like this happen, getting volunteers together and making sure we\u2019ve got everything ready, working with the families, doing the designs, ordering all of the materials\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see the kids come and see their bedrooms, it really is transformational. It makes a huge difference. It is life changing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

For Maria, she feels it will make an enormous difference to her girls\u2019 life and wellbeing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means that the kids have got a nice environment to chill in after school and nursery,\u201d Maria says. \u201cBefore, I know they didn\u2019t really enjoy being in there. It wasn\u2019t somewhere that they were excited to play in or bring their friends home to. It will be really nice to see their excitement and joy about their room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find out more about the Transforming Spaces programme and how to refer a family here.<\/a><\/strong> Find out how to support the Childhood Trust through the \u2018Support Us\u2019 section of the website, with details of how to donate here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this?\u00a0Get in touch and tell us more<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n

Reader-funded since 1991 \u2013 Big Issue brings you trustworthy journalism that drives real change.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every day, our journalists dig deeper, speaking up for those society overlooks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Could you help us keep doing this vital work?\u00a0Support our journalism from \u00a35 a month<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Read more: \u201cThe room\u2019s a funny shape so I didn\u2019t know how to space it out. I\u2019ve got…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425396,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,6331,4022,393,390,4884,6333,257,12,18266,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-425395","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-child-poverty","10":"tag-design","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-family","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-housing","15":"tag-london","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-poverty","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115206457467291220","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}