Sleep tight ... and safely

Ewan Mackintosh (4), from Grangemouth, has Autistic Spectrum Disorder, and does not understand when it is dark he should be asleep so he often plays through the night, putting himself in danger.

Now, through children’s charity Newlife, River Island has paid for a £4714 SafeSpace bed – a specially built low sensory sleeping environment that will keep him from hurting himself and give parents Amy and David peace of mind at night.

Amy said: “Ewan doesn’t understand that night time means sleep, so he can’t have a regular bed because he will just run around and play for hours at a time. He shares a bedroom with his seven-year-old sister Adele, so this was very disruptive for her, too, especially when she had school the next day.

“So Ewan was sleeping in a cot, but he was much too big for it and we were worried he would climb out and hurt himself. He has no awareness of danger so we need to keep a close eye on him all the time.”

When the family’s occupational therapist told them about Newlife, they were able to secure an emergency equipment loan of a SafeSpace bed and now they have it permanently thanks to River Island and its fantastic plastic initiative – donating the profits from the sale of every five pence carrier bag in every store to Newlife.

The firm’s support as resulted in UK children receiving £500,000 of equipment.