A total of 17 community foundations have been chosen to distribute and fund £3.6m worth of support for care leavers in their areas.

The money will be used by charities and other groups to improve support for young people leaving care.

The community foundations chosen are those who successfully applied last year to the three-year Care Leaver Programme, which is being funded by council investment group Local Authorities’ Mutual Investment Trust with match funding from the community foundations involved.

Among successful bids is a Heart of England Community Foundation project in the West Midlands to offer support to care leavers in “difficult situations”, including homelessness.

Cornwall Community Foundation sees 200 care leavers across the region provided with “long-term and consistent” support through local charities and community groups.

Meanwhile, Essex Community Foundation will use its funding to target specific groups o care leavers in need of help, including those with children and in the criminal justice system.

Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Cumbria, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Kent, Merseyside, London, Norfolk, Somerset, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Surrey and Wiltshire are the other areas involved.

“Inequalities for care leavers differ from region to region, and it is key that we harness the knowledge of local organisations to not just fund fantastic projects for young people leaving the care system, but to nurture those relationships and keep the momentum going to make real change happen,” said Rosemary Macdonald, chief executive of community foundations group UK Community Foundations.

“We hope to use this programme as a way of uniting communities and authorities, to explore local solutions to local issues and use the learning to influence wider support for care leavers.”

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