Leeds Building Society has partnered with Become, the national charity for children in care and young care leavers, to provide crucial financial education aimed at helping care leavers gain independence and step onto the property ladder.
Celebrating the collaboration ahead of World Care Day, the Society’s £72,000 donation to Become will fund a programme specifically designed for the financial resilience of care-experienced young people.
The initiative will offer educational sessions on independent living and financial management for rented accommodation, potentially easing the path to homeownership in the future. This response comes as government data indicates a 33% rise in homelessness among care leavers aged 18 – 20 over the last four years.
The first phase of the partnership involves creating financial education resources, followed by training delivery and impact assessment in the latter half of the year.
Wendy Carter, Responsible Business Lead at Leeds Building Society, said: “We are proud to be working with Become as our new financial education partner to create and deliver resources to support care experienced young people… By working with Become we hope to support care leavers who may experience additional barriers to stable accommodation.”
Chloe Grant, director of services at Become, highlighted the challenges care leavers face: “Every year we see over 11,000 young people leaving the care system in the UK… The generous £72,000 worth of funding from Leeds Building Society will allow us to create and deliver resources which will help care-experienced young people feel supported as they navigate managing their own home.”
