The company’s chosen charity supports vulnerable families across the Algarve in a variety of ways.

Bennetts Bedrooms has been a family business right from the beginning, having expanded over the years in which they have one of the biggest selections when it comes to products in the Algarve, with over 51 mattresses, in which they affirmed they are a one stop shop.

Bennetts Bedrooms told The Portugal News that “We are using our 10-year celebration to highlight Algarve Network for Families in Need and use that as a springboard to do cooperate giving really, as we feel there are other companies out there that can help too.”

In which they added that “We know it is difficult with finances, but just as an example, if a plumber did 12 jobs and gave one to charity, that could really change someone’s life. It could be a tap that’s been leaking for months and a family in need cannot get a call out so that is going to help them a lot.”

Bennetts Bedrooms told The Portugal News “We contacted Bernadette Abbott from the charity to tell her we wanted to do something special and do something more than just giving beds. In discussions with the charity, we agreed that the donations should be divided between three families on a room-by-room basis.” In total, they donated a bedroom to one family, a living room to another a family and kitchen appliances and a dining room table to a third family.

The donation list was “Three complete beds, linen and pillows for the beds, a microwave, a Fridge freezer, a dining table, 6 chairs, cups, plates, bowls, glasses and knife and fork set as well as a TV with a TV stand, a coffee table, a sofa set and 150 euros worth of food vouchers.”

When asked how Bennetts Bedrooms decided on their chosen charity, the management told The Portugal News that “Prior to covid, we had come across a post on Algarve Network for Families in Need’s Facebook page where a family was in need of beds so we donated the beds to this family.”

“When we got the feedback from the family and saw how much it meant to them, we decided to make a commitment to Algarve Network for a year, where we would offer to give a bed to a family in need for every 12 beds we sold.”

Bennetts Bedrooms honoured their commitment and continued past the first year even through covid, “We have continued this initiative for four years now in where we have also donated bedding like pillows, duvets and sheets. We also helped Ukrainian refugees when they came over, with literally nothing but a backpack, so we supported them through the charity.”

Bennetts Bedrooms also affirmed “We will continue to support the charity in any way we can really, still continuing the bed concept of donating one bed for every 12 we sell. Sometimes we go to homes and they have fairly new beds so we put in new mattresses and sometimes we take beds away and replace them with new beds. As a business we either upcycle into the charity or we recycle, which is good for us a company.”

The Portugal News reached out to Algarve Network for Families in Need, where Bernadette Abbott affirmed that “The generosity and kindness has been outstanding and when Bennetts Bedrooms told me that they wanted to do something special for their 10th anniversary, I was astounded by the managements offer. We are just so grateful to Bennetts Bedrooms for their donation as well as spreading the word about our work and encouraging a cooperate response.”


Bernadette also explained that “All the families have needs but this was just right for these families at this time, we decided to divide the donations between three families because we wanted to spread the love really so more families could benefit.”

“The kitchen equipment will go to a family in Silves who have just acquired a donated kitchen, which the family and their volunteer can hardly believe. The beds will go to a single mother of three in Armação de Pêra and then the living room furniture will go to an older lady in Lagos having experienced the most traumatic year of all.”

New initiative

Bernadette also told The Portugal News about their new initiative which would be wonderful if you could support, which is the “Glasses for Children” appeal, which is “probably our most ambitious initiative yet”. “Many children across the Algarve, who have started school are at an immediate disadvantage to see sufficiently well to deal with school work.”

Adding that, “These children are in need of glasses but their parents are not able to supply them owing to the cost and some children have sight defects which have not even been identified as they have never had their eyes tested, this is not a result of negligence by their parents, but they do not have the resources to acquire what is needed as there is no state aid for the purchase of glasses.”


“If a child cannot see sufficiently, they cannot get the most from their education which is the way out of poverty. This has been a concern for us for some time and although we have been able to help in isolated cases, we simply do not have the resources to meet demand so we are asking anyone who is able to help to please reach out to us. These children are our future. They are the future workforce, parents, carers in our much-loved community. Your help can be the difference between their success and failure.”

If you can help, or would like any further information please don't hesitate to get in touch with Algarve Network for Families in Need. You can either email Bernadette on b.abbott@live.co.uk or Nadia at familiesinneed@hotmail.com. You can also find their Facebook page by searching ‘Algarve Network for Families in Need’ or you can visit https://algarvefin.wixsite.com/families-in-need.

Author

Following undertaking her university degree in English with American Literature in the UK, Cristina da Costa Brookes moved back to Portugal to pursue a career in Journalism, where she has worked at The Portugal News for 3 years. Cristina’s passion lies with Arts & Culture as well as sharing all important community-related news.

Cristina da Costa Brookes