Grants from the Kent Community Foundation Care Leavers Fund will be available for charities and community groups which provide frontline services to care leavers
Grants of up to £7,500 from the new Kent Community Foundation Care Leaver Fund will focus on supporting care leavers aged between 16.5 and 25, as they move from foster or state care to independent living.
The new funding, which will be available for organisations throughout Kent and Medway, will provide practical and holistic support to care leavers. The grants will be awarded for projects supporting young care levers including, mentoring, therapy, counselling and peer support, care leaver sessions, practical advice and training to support care leavers to set up home, gain confidence, experience, life skills and help reach their potential.
Natalie Smith, Director of Grants and Impact and Deputy Chief Executive, Kent Community Foundation said, “This funding is vital as there were 46,000 care leavers, aged between 17 and 21 years old in England in 2022, and each year, young people leaving the care system immediately meet a range of challenges that their peers might not experience. The grants from our new Care Leavers Fund will support the transitional and practical support that care leavers are often less likely to get but need to make a fresh start as a young adult.
“Worryingly statistics show us that 3 out of every 10 homeless people have been in care, 46% of care leavers are unemployed and a high percentage of care leavers end up in the criminal justice system and we are delighted that Community Foundations across the UK will be focusing funding on improving outcomes for these young people.”
Kent Community Foundation is one of seventeen Community Foundation who will be part of a three year £3.6 million match fund being funded by the Local Authorities’ Mutual Investment Trust (LAMIT), a shareholder of the UK’s biggest charities asset manager, CCLA.
The deadline for applications to the Kent Community Foundation Care Leavers Fund is 15 July 2024
To apply for funding visit www.kentcf.org.uk/funding#care-leavers-fund
Notes to Editors
The Care Leavers fund is available via funding from CCLA Investment House, with match funding. The new funding, which will be available for organisations throughout Kent and Medway, will provide practical and holistic support to care leavers. Additionally, the fund is also awarding grants to individuals, nominated by a professional who is supporting them.
www.kentcf.org.uk/funding#care-leavers-fund
About Kent Community Foundation
Experienced grant-maker Kent Community Foundation is the organisation behind the organisations and has been finding, funding, and supporting some of the smallest voluntary groups in the county for over twenty three years. In this time, it has distributed almost £57 million to support thousands of small charities and deserving causes where a modest sum of money can make a significant impact.
Kent Community Foundation is part of a UK wide accredited network of forty-seven Community Foundations who are committed to improving the lives of local people and communities, particularly the most vulnerable, isolated, and disadvantaged by matching those who want to help, with those who need the help.
Responsible for more than ninety philanthropic funds, Kent Community Foundation is unrivalled in its knowledge of local causes and assists individuals, families, and businesses who want to help, to establish and administer their own charitable funds.
Kent Community Foundation funding priorities –
- Children, Young People & Families
Supporting disadvantaged children and young people’s physical and mental health, encouraging positive choices and staying safe. - Vulnerable Adults
Helping those who may need extra care dealing with challenging issues or those at risk of social exclusion or discrimination.
3. Elderly and Isolated
Enabling elderly adults to stay well, healthy, independent and free from social isolation.
4. Employability, Skills & Enterprise
Creating opportunities to develop skills and confidence and have a positive impact in areas and groups of people with high unemployment.
5. Environment
Encouraging community action to improve and protect local spaces with support sustainable ways of living.
