National Care Leavers’ Week is an initiative set up and coordinated by care leavers’ charity the Bryn Melyn Group Foundation. Now in its third year, National Care Leavers’ Week aims to highlight the many issues faced by young adults leaving care as they make their first tentative steps into the adult world.

Researchers tell us that the average age for a child to leave the family home for good is 25, and possibly as late as 29 for young males. And yet we still expect our most vulnerable and least prepared young people to make this huge transition to adult life at the age of 16, 17 or 18, in many cases without the safety net of a family to fall back on.

In recent years Government recognized that children leaving care form a particular subset of social exclusion with a particular set of disadvantages unique to their circumstances. The resulting legislation however did not go nearly far enough in the eyes of many campaigning groups, and young people themselves, to address the many difficulties which care leavers face as young adults.

The National Care Leavers’ Week campaign this year focuses on housing. Where we live is basic to our safety, security and well-being and without a stable and sustainable base, finding employment, training and educational opportunities is extremely difficult.

Against a background of national housing shortage, especially for affordable tenancies for single young people, house hunting for care leavers can be a daunting business. During National Care Leavers’ Week, we hope to draw these issues to the attention of the public and to the politicians who can influence local and national housing policy to really make a difference, as well as highlighting examples of good practice where supported housing schemes are really reaching out to meet the diverse needs of young people leaving care.

Care Leavers' Housing Charter