Following the beds appeal, we have now purchased the bunk beds. We did a deal which included the mattresses and the beds and so we have enough beds now for 80 children and it worked out to £6,480 (£81 per child’s bed). We are currently working with about 50 children in residence at any one time (thanks to a big commercial supporter coming on board last year) but hoping to increase further to around 60 - 65 children at any one as soon as we can (funds allowing). We opted for 80 beds so we can accommodate surges and future growth – PLUS these do make good beds for guests so we can take small teams out and have them stay on site (we also have 4 guest rooms possible so about 8 to 10 guests comfortably).  I am genuinely thrilled with the new beds as they will be so much smarter than the current ones and the rooms will really look much better (complete with under bed storage). The challenge now is to get the beds from Cheshire to Freetown!

The beds actually came from a bed rental company and 16 had only ever been used as props in a film, so never slept in. The mattresses are in strong plastic covers which have been treated against uninvited creatures - so hopefully no more bed bugs!