Northampton charity takes pride in giving back to schools who partake in ‘Sleep on the Floor’ project
A Northampton charity takes pride in giving back to schools who partake in their ‘Sleep on the Floor’ project, which raises awareness among young people across the town.
Spencer Contact, located in Gladstone Close, fixes and cleans up donated furniture before passing it on to those in need for free.
The charity, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, helps to make a space a home with furniture and household items – and anyone can benefit from their generosity.
Having seen sad situations of people sleeping on floors, sharing plates and cutlery, and using bin bags full of clothes as chairs, the team helps individuals and families to start afresh.
As part of their fundraising efforts, husband and wife Steve and Esther Scarsbrook and their team have run the ‘Sleep on the Floor’ project since 2019.
The idea is that schools and other organisations sign up to ‘sleep on the floor’ for one night, and this helps to raise sponsorship money and awareness of Spencer Contact.
As well as this, it starts important conversations about the unfortunate situations others may face without a bed.
Having worked in education and two of the town’s primary schools previously, Esther knows there is a lack of funding for extra curricular and fun activities and wanted to change that.
For every £1 raised by a school for Spencer Contact, 10 pence is given to them in return. This has enabled the half a dozen schools who have taken part to purchase wet play toys and library books, as well as organise pizza lunches and movie nights.
Esther and Steve visit interested schools to host assemblies and they then invite them to their warehouse to see the work first hand – before the fundraising begins and they choose when to ‘sleep on the floor’ for one evening from their own homes.
“Giving back is a thank you to the teachers and pupils for assisting us,” said Esther. “Spencer Contact is about giving and we are more than happy to do it.”
Having launched this initiative in 2019, it is only following the pandemic that it has taken off – and the Spencer Contact team want to raise awareness of how schools can get involved.
When asked how it feels to see the positive impact giving back has made across Northampton, Esther said: “It’s brilliant. If you make one positive difference to a child along the way then it’s all worthwhile. The more who get involved, the more people we can help.”
Every child who raises more than £5 through their sponsorship is given a free wristband that says ‘I slept on the floor so others don’t have to’. Esther, Steve and the team hope to continue sharing this important message.
Any schools interested in getting involved in Spencer Contact’s ‘Sleep on the Floor’ project can reach out to Esther on 01604 587589 or [email protected].