Successful funding bid to support young care leavers

YOUNG care leavers in Tameside will benefit from a successful funding bid to support them in their transition to adult life and independence.

Tameside Council has won a £1.36m grant from the Department of Education, which will be delivered over the next three financial years, to fund their pilot Staying Close scheme.

Staying Close aims to support young people who are leaving care at eighteen from children’s homes to access a wider offer of transitional support.

The grant will allow Tameside Council to offer a range of employment, transition, mental health, social work and housing support to young care leavers.

This means that young people leaving care will receive comparable support to young people in foster care placements, who can receive support up to the age of twenty-one.

Staying Close is designed to offer care leavers with practical, employment, emotional and social help in their lives as they exit residential care and transition into adulthood.

Councillor Bill Fairfoull, Deputy Executive Leader with a responsibility for Children and Families, said: “I’m pleased we have successfully secured with external funding to pilot the Staying Close scheme. It is a fantastic opportunity for us to provide extended support to young people in residential care in the vital period between leaving care and transitioning into adult life.

“I look forward to seeing how this funding will impact the lives of young people in our borough by providing ongoing support to care leavers”.