New Beds At Bosco A Big Hit

The installation of beds at Bosco House sit-up service has gone down well with rough sleepers.

The Murphy beds, which fold up into cupboards for storage during the day, were installed just before Xmas and have led to an increase in demand by rough sleepers. Despite being contracted by Sefton Council to provide six places at the sit-up, Bosco saw up to ten people trying to access the beds each night over Xmas.

The idea for the new beds was the brainchild of Sheila Howard, Bosco’s senior manager. Sheila said: “I first saw the beds in use at Alder Hey children’s hospital. They use them for visiting parents who want to stay with their sick children. I thought they would be ideal for our sit-up service as they can be stored away during the day and we’d still have use of the room.”

Sheila put the idea to Bosco chairman, Alan Matthews, who agreed it was worth looking into. Alan said: “I thought it was a great idea. We are only supposed to provide a sleeping mat and sleeping bag for our sit-up users, but we were never comfortable with that idea. The service provides a safe, warm place to spend the night, but sleeping on the floor is not ideal. It’s so undignified.”

Alan added: “Sheila did a bit of research and found out how much it would cost to refurbish the room, put in new flooring and install the Murphy beds. She put this to the committee and the plan was backed unanimously. I then applied to Medicash for the money and the bid was successful.”

The new beds have been a big hit with service users, too. Support worker, Debbie Kirkland said: “We were a bit overwhelmed over the Xmas period as word got around. We were getting ten people a night trying to get in. We didn’t turn anyone away, of course. But now, once we have the first six in, we pay other’s bus fare so they can get to the sit-up in Southport.”

Service user, Pete, said: “This is fantastic. To get a comfortable night’s sleep is so important, so going from sleeping on the street to having your own bed for the night makes things more bearable. It really lifts your spirits and makes you believe that things can change for the better. I’d really like to thank the staff at Bosco for this. It’s great!”