Useful Contacts and Resources for Care Leavers
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**Useful contacts and resources **
The Care Leavers Association provides advice and information and a range of useful information about leaving care and your rights and entitlements. The Care Leavers Association [external website]
The National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum [External website] is a forum of over 125 local authority leaving care teams working together to share good practice and improve services and support for care-experienced young people.
The National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS) [External Website] is the leading national provider of advocacy for young people in care.
Transport for London (TfL) Care Leavers' concessions
Care Leavers aged between 18 and 25 who live in London can now apply for half price bus and tram travel. You are only required to apply to this scheme once. The photocard will then be valid until your 26th birthday.
In order to be eligible you must be:
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A London Care Leaver
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Aged between 18 and 25
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Living in a London Borough
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Getting no other free or discounted travel
As you are only able to have one photo card with TfL, it may not be to your advantage to apply to his scheme if you are a student and have an 18+ Student Oyster photocard or a Job Centre Plus Travel Discount as both of these schemes include discounted travel on the entire TfL network, including the London Underground.
If you wish to apply for the care leavers' concession, please complete this short Google Form so that we are able to confirm with TfL that you are a care leaver known to Sutton (Please ensure that you give consent for your data to be shared with TFL.) You will then apply for the scheme on the TfL website but please give it 2-3 weeks before you try to apply as it takes a bit of time for us to share information with TfL
More information please contact your PA or information can be found here [External Website].
Rees Foundation
The Rees Foundation is a charity founded by Jan Rees OBE in 2013. As a foster carer herself, Jan has devoted over 40 years of her life to caring for children and young people in the UK. The Rees Foundation runs a number of projects for care leavers. Sutton's Leaving Care Team is working in partnership with Rees, and your PA can assist you in finding out more information.
Care leavers are able to apply for grants from other charities and organisations for specific things they might need.
Some of the charities and organisation to approach are:
3. Shelter: Emergency grants, loans and money help [External Website]
4. Bill help UK - free essential furniture emergency [External Website]
5. Bill help UK - emergency grants for paying bills [External Website]
6. Bill help Uk - Croydon Discretionary Support grant scheme [External Website]
7. Bill Help Uk - Free Voucher Schemes - [External Website]
8. UK Care Guide - where to find grants for furniture and carpets/ [External Website]
9. Glasspool [External Website]
10. Turn 2 Us [External Website]
11. Buttle UK - Chances for Children [External Website]
12. Family Fund - Helping Disabled Children[External Website]
Sutton's Care Leavers Local Offer
- Leaving Care and Planning for Adulthood
- Managing your Finances for Care Leavers
- Your housing options as a Care Leaver
- Health and Wellbeing for Care Leavers
- Participation - My voice/How can I have my say? For Care Leavers
- Support for Asylum Seekers (Refugee and migrant young people)
- What the Children and Social Work Act 2017 says about the Care Leaver Offer
- Useful Contacts and Resources for Care Leavers
- Entitlements: accessing my files, advocacy and complaints for Care Leavers
- A Message from the London Borough of Sutton regarding the Local Offer for Care Leavers
- Summary - What should I expect?