Congratulations, we'd like to offer you the job. Great news for many care leavers, wanting to move off benefits and take charge of their careers and independent lives. Yet, between day one and their first payday, each care leaver will be left with no money for rent, food, bills, or transport. All benefits stop here. With no family or financial safety net how do you survive the first month of work? Help us close the gap this Christmas for young people keen to start their new jobs today.
Travel card zones 1-5: 60.20 Electric: 20 Food: 20 Mobile: 2.50 Other essentials: 4 Total for one week's essentials (excluding housing): 86.70 Many young care leavers have no choice but to turn down the job they tried so hard to get. They simply cannot afford to live until payday. Christmas is prime time for finding part-time work that could lead to more. But Christmas is colder, wetter, more difficult to get around London. Winter in the city requires more money to survive.
First impressions count. You can't turn up to your first proper job late, under-dressed, and hungry. Our financial grants empower young care leavers to close the gap between benefits and payday. On average we give grants of 200 - this ensures that these young people avoid the threat of eviction or having the electric cut off. Having some money to budget with means that each care leaver can buy the food, travel, and work-appropriate clothing they need to start their new job with confidence.
Unemployment, homelessness, mental ill-health are all higher for young people leaving care. Learning how to budget needs money to start. Entering adult life needs encouragement, guidance, and occasionally a helping hand. Empower a young person and close the financial gap - allowing them to approach work unworried about the basics of staying warm or getting enough to eat. This can make all the difference now and in the future. Help them learn, develop, and spot opportunities.
