'Being Able To Give My Child Her Own Bed Was The Best Christmas Gift'

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With record numbers of children living in poverty and a cost of living crisis that’s showing no signs of easing, it is sadly a reality that many parents are unable to afford to buy basic essentials for their children this winter. 

It’s a reality Sarah, who is based in South Wales and has a nine-year-old daughter, is all too familiar with. 

The solo parent is unable to work due to a chronic pain condition, and relies on Universal Credit and food banks to get by. 

“Every month is a struggle to find money for food and bills – we get by through the skin of our teeth,” she said.

“When we were on a pay-as-you-go electricity meter, we both couldn’t afford to have a shower so I would often let my daughter have one whilst I went without.

“The moment she’s not in the house, all the heating goes off, and it doesn’t come back on until she is home. Unfortunately, with my disabilities, my condition gets worse when I’m cold, but I just have to deal with it. I will always put her first.”

The parent said Christmas only adds to the anxiety and panic, “as the cost is so expensive and naturally, I want to make I give her the best Christmas I can”.

Last Christmas, support workers from Action for Children were able to provide Sarah with a £250 supermarket voucher, as well as a brand-new bed and mattress for her daughter, through the charity’s Family Fund. 

It made the family’s Christmas. 

“Being able to give my child her own bed to sleep in was the best Christmas gift I could have asked for,” Sarah said.

“She had been sleeping on a mattress on the floor after her old bed, which was second- or third-hand, had broken. I sleep on the sofa, so I couldn’t even give her my bed.

“I felt so ashamed and like I was failing her. She wasn’t sleeping well, and in all honesty, neither was I. The stress and worry were enormous.”

Action for Children said it supported almost 4,500 families (nearly 15,000 parents, children and young people) in financial hardship over a 16-month period to October 2025.

A quarter of applications for crisis help came from working families (25%). 

Three quarters of frontline staff surveyed said the families they support are facing greater financial pressures than last year.

Between 1 June 2024 and 30 September 2025, Action for Children gave out crisis grants totalling more than £800,000 to families across the UK.

One family support worker said they helped a family whose nine-year-old was sleeping in a toddler bed as they weren’t in a position to buy a single bed.

Another said they worked with a single mum working 30 hours a week who moved into a property with her seven-month-old son and had no furniture, no carpets, and a sofa ridden with fleas.

“Her son’s bedroom was just wooden floorboards and a cot in the middle… her wages covered the bills but not much else and she wasn’t entitled to any other support,” they added.

One support worker noted that the families who are struggling the most are those not entitled to any Universal Credit, or very little. “They do not get free school meals ... they are on minimum wage jobs working all hours just to pay bills. It is always this group of families that get missed.”

With more families in need this winter, Brigitte Gater, managing director of Children’s Services at Action for Children, is urging the public to get behind the charity’s Secret Santa campaign, which enables families to put food on the table and provide warm clothes for their kids.

For single mum Sarah, the food voucher they also received took “a big strain” off her: “I didn’t need to worry about food that month, and it freed up money for other things, like heating. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.”

To become a Secret Santa and donate to Action for Children visit iamsanta.org.uk. Got a kindness story to share? Please email [email protected] with more information.