Press & Media

Karuna is a for-profit property development company that diverts a fixed portion of its profits to help eradicate childhood bed poverty in the UK.

About Karuna

In the UK, hundreds of thousands of children do not have a bed of their own. Some sleep on floors, sofas, piles of clothes, or share beds long past an appropriate age.

This is known as childhood bed poverty — a largely hidden issue with serious consequences.

Children who do not sleep properly are more likely to struggle with learning, emotional regulation, behaviour, and long-term development.

Karuna exists to address this problem using a different model.

Rather than relying on donations alone, Karuna operates as a commercial property development business. A fixed proportion of profits from each development is diverted to specialist partners who provide beds to children in need.

The Karuna Model

Karuna’s approach is designed to be simple, repeatable, and scalable.

Develop residential property

commercially

Profits are generated through normal market activity

A defined share of those profits is allocated to tackling childhood bed poverty

Specialist charities deliver beds and track outcomes

Karuna does not deliver beds directly.
Its role is to create sustainable funding and direct it to organisations already equipped to deliver safely and effectively.

Why this approach?

Childhood bed poverty is a solvable problem.

A single bed can last a child through much of their school life, significantly improving sleep quality, wellbeing, and capacity to learn. Yet funding for this issue remains fragmented and insecure.

Karuna’s belief is simple:

Business, when structured properly, can solve social problems more effectively than charity or government alone.

This model is intended to complement the charitable sector — not replace it — by providing predictable, long-term funding rather than relying solely on donations.

Founder: Andy Howard

Karuna was founded by Andy Howard, a UK-based property developer and entrepreneur.

The idea for Karuna was shaped by a lifelong discomfort with inequality and crystallised after hearing a radio interview with a mother describing the shame and distress of being unable to provide her child with a bed, despite working and doing everything she could.

For Andy, the issue was not abstract. It was practical — and solvable.

Karuna reflects a belief that profit and compassion are not opposites, and that businesses should be judged not only by what they build, but by what their success enables.

Delivery

Partners

Delivery partners & impact

Karuna works with specialist charities that already have the expertise, infrastructure, and safeguarding processes required to address childhood bed poverty.

These partners:

Identify families through schools and local authority referrals
Provide beds, mattresses, and bedding
Track educational and wellbeing outcomes following provision

Karuna’s role is to fund impact at scale, while partners focus on delivery and measurement.

What makes KARUNA different?

For-profit, not a charity — commercial activity funds impact
Simple, repeatable model — easy to understand and scale
Outcome-focused — beds delivered, lives improved
Collaborative — works alongside charities, not in competition

Quotable statements

“This isn’t about charity or guilt. It’s about using business properly.”
“Childhood bed poverty is a solvable problem — we just haven’t built the right funding models to solve it.”
“Profit and compassion are not opposites. One can enable the other.”
“No child should be expected to learn, grow, or thrive without a proper place to sleep.”

Fast Facts

Name: Karuna
Founded: 2025
Location: United Kingdom
Structure: For-profit social enterprise
Sector: Property development / social impact
Focus: Childhood bed poverty
Delivery partners: Specialist UK charities