Young People Leaving Care Fund

It funds the charitable work of organisations that build an inclusive, creative and sustainable society. It is one of the largest UK grantmakers, awarding £42m for projects in the arts, children and young people sectors in 2016.

In October 2016, the foundation launched its Young People Leaving Care fund. It wants to offer support to the 10,000 young people over 16 who leave care each year, a third before their 18th birthday.

How much is available and what will it fund?

The fund will allocate more than £2m each year up to 2021 to support charities that help young people transition from care to independent living, and ensure care leavers receive high standards of services from local authorities. The first tranche of funding was allocated earlier this year.

Funding is limited to the charitable work of organisations, and could be for core or project costs, including staff salaries and overheads. There are no limits on grant size or length, but the median average 2015 grant was £100,000 over three years. Most support is likely to be in the form of grants, but social investments are considered.

It will support work that develops long-lasting, supportive relationships for young people in and leaving care. Examples of this could be:

• Good practice models of how family relationships (including relationships with siblings) can be nurtured rather than broken by the care system.
• Development of existing non-family relationships with friends and significant adults, such as teachers, previous foster carers, sports coaches.
• Development of practical, informal networks that allow care leavers to receive advice, make friends, reduce isolation and grasp positive opportunities.
• Policy and practice for looked-after children that values and prioritises long-lasting supportive relationships and the positive role the care system can play in nurturing and developing these relationships.

It will also support work that has a positive impact on the support that care leavers receive from their local authority and other statutory services. For example:

• Involving care leavers in decisions about their own lives and in the design of services.
• Advocating for young people leaving care to obtain what they are legally entitled to and need.
• Influencing broader policy, particularly in relation to standardising best practice.
• Collecting and sharing data and knowledge about care leavers and benchmarking local authority services for care leavers.

What is it looking for from applicants?

Projects can combine good practice with impact that is wider than the immediate beneficiaries by, for example, developing models that can be replicated more widely or influencing local and/or national practice and policy.

While it will not fund applications from local authorities, charities are expected to develop projects in partnership with councils and other organisations, including other grantees that have responsibility for care leavers.

Projects should be evidence-based and applicants clear about the impact the initiative will have and how it will be measured. Commonly delivered work such as mentoring or supported housing-style projects will not be funded however.

The foundation has set out three core outcomes for care leavers that it wants grantees' work to be ultimately working towards achieving. These are:

• Young people in and leaving care are more easily able to form healthy relationships that help them make a successful transition to adulthood.
• Young people receive a consistently high standard of statutory support that has been informed by their views.
• There is greater alignment and coherence in the work of the voluntary sector in ensuring a successful transition to adult life for care leavers.

Making an application

Applications are assessed on a rolling basis. Here is a two-stage application process. The initial application is done online, with stage two, seeing applicants answer a set of questions from a grants or social investment manager, with a decision in two to four months. These cover what the applicant wants to achieve from the funding, how the money will be spent and how the project will achieve the desired outcomes.

More from:
https://esmeefairbairn.org.uk/apply-for-funding

Funding roundup

• Home-Start has been handed a £900,000 three-year grant from the National Lottery to create a more efficient and collaborative network that supports families. Home-Start provides volunteer-led home visiting support for almost 30,000 families and 60,000 children facing a range of problems including isolation, mental and physical ill health, addiction and bereavement.
• Sport 4 Life has been awarded £400,000 to continue its work to support disadvantaged young people in Birmingham for the next four years. It hopes to work with 700 young people through activities such as sport, social action and mentoring to improve their employability and help them overcome poverty. It will fund a 10-week programme for 12- to 16-year-olds and a five-week initiative for 16- to 25-year-olds.
• 42nd Street has been granted £100,000 from the Co-op Foundation and Big Lottery Fund to support young people traumatised by the Manchester Arena bombing in May. The Manchester-based charity will offer therapeutic support and work with partners to give grassroots organisations the skills to support young people in local communities. It will also work closely with the NHS-run Manchester Resilience Hub.
• Dame Kelly Holmes Trust is one of the charities to receive funding from BGC's Charity Day on 11 September where celebrities join city traders to raise funds for charities by donating 100 per cent of the revenues from the day's trading. The day commemorates Cantor and Eurobrokers employees who died in the World Trade Center attack in New York in 2001.