We know that many of you are worried about the future – which isn’t how it should be. That’s why all of us at Royal Children Foundation we are determined to change the way the system works for you and countless children, young people and families in Nigeria.
This means calling for changes to the law, policy, or practice that will improve children’s lives and the systems around them.
We listen to the views of the children and young people we support, as well as the insights from our frontline services. We then make recommendations to the Government and other policymakers about how they can change children’s lives for the better. But we can’t do this alone.
With your help we can make it easier for young people leaving care to find a place they can call home.
No child should enter adulthood alone
Many young people rely on their family long after they’re 18. But young people who have spent time in care don’t always have that safety net.
They might not have a family home to return to if something goes wrong, someone to phone when they aren’t sure how to fix a problem, or a guarantor to help them rent a place to live, often leaving them feeling alone.
It’s an incredibly serious situation... I’ve had letting agents tell me a guarantor is mandatory so they can’t help me. I just hope things will change and care leavers will get the support they need.
The reality young people leaving care face
One in three care-experienced young people become homeless in the first two years after they leave care. Over one in ten (13%) of young people leaving care said landlords were unwilling to rent to them (Centrepoint, 2017). This is often because they don’t have a parent who can lend them a deposit or act as a guarantor.
I found the cost of accommodation challenging because I came from a broken, unorganised background, not a lot of places would take me, and those that would have a long waiting list. Young person with experience of care on trying to find somewhere to live.
Campaigning for change
Young people leaving care deserve to be protected by law so landlords cannot discriminate against them when making decisions about who to let properties to.
This important change would make a difference to thousands of young people who are struggling to find suitable accommodation and would help reduce the chance of them ending up homeless or living in unsafe places.
We invited two young people who grew up in care to join us for our roundtable event in one of our trustee’s meetings to discuss this issue. They spoke of their experiences and the challenges they faced accessing housing in the private sector.
Most young people have financial support from parents but the amount of help care leavers receive depends on where they live in the country. They should have equal opportunities to access appropriate housing in safe areas so they can have a positive outlook on life.
After our roundtable event, we planned to table an amendment to the Renters authority to investigate this pressing issue and call for more support for young people leaving care.
Our proposed document included provisions to stop landlords discriminating against low salary earners, particularly those with children but also lacked clear support for people leaving care.
Our amendment would have made it illegal for landlords to discriminate against young people if they had been in care. One of our plans is to get as many people as possible to sign in support of our petition to be emailed to Our Local Government chairman to ask them to support this amendment.
Next steps
It’s crucial that these young people are provided with extra support so they can access both social and private rental homes and that if a care leaver should become homeless – the help they need is there. We will continue to work with both the Ministry for Housing and Planning on the Renters’ Right Bill and the Department for Education on the Child Wellbeing Bill to look at changes that can be introduced to ensure that all young people leaving care are supported to find a place they can call home.
Let’s make it easier for young people leaving care to find a place to call home
Young people leaving care deserve fair access to accommodation. They often face discrimination from landlords and, when someone is willing to rent to them, have difficulties because they don’t have a parent who can lend them a deposit or act as a guarantor. Right now there is an opportunity to help fix this situation.
Help change the lives of young people leaving care
More than one in four children in the UK are living in poverty
Over the winter, our frontline staff are helping children and families by providing them with emergency support such as beds, access to food, and support with their mental wellbeing. With your support, we can continue our work helping families in poverty.
Donate now and help children and families in poverty
Help children feel safer, happier, healthier and more hopeful
There are so many ways you can give young people a helping hand. Signing petitions, getting involved in campaigns, donating or just staying in the know about what it’s like to be growing up in 2024. And we’ve made it easy, by putting it all in our proposed monthly community newsletter.
Changing things for the better
Imagine trying to focus on learning when your stomach keeps rumbling
What’s the difference between feeling isolated and feeling free?
For a young person who has experienced care it’s being able to ride the bus. O
One of our petitions for free bus travel for them will help secure a debate to find a way out to make this possible being one of our pilot schemes in Lagos, Nigeria. We also plan to persuade councils all over Nigeria to introduce their own local schemes. Next stop the whole of Nigeria!
Online pornography
Viewing pornography and other pornographic content can have a big impact on young people and children. From their understanding of sex and relationships to the way they think about their own bodies, it can negatively influence how they view the world around them. We estimate that children in the Nigeria could access pornography over 50 million times in the next Seven years. We want to send a letter to adult content organisation all over Nigeria calling for them to do more to keep children safe from harmful pornography.
Find out more
Better childhoods start with better policies
We call for improvements to the law, policy, or practice that will help change young people’s lives (and the systems that shape them) for the better.
Our blog
If you want some advice on supporting a young person, or you want to know what our experts think about the issues affecting children today and how things can change for the better, our blog is a good place to start.
Your donation could change a young person’s life
Donate today, or set up a regular donation to help support us continue our important work.
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We bring about change to make children and young people’s lives better
We push to improve practice, policies, and systems so that they really work for all children and young people.
Nobody knows better than children and young people what their lives are really like. That’s why we’re committed to supporting young people to share their experiences and insights about the laws, policies, practices, and systems that affect them. We amplify their voices in our research and influencing work with decision-makers across Nigeria to help change children’s lives and the systems around them for the better.
Find out about our recent proposed policy work across Nigeria
This year, we supported young people to call on our President to be a champion for babies, children, and young people, and to put them at the heart of Government as part of the Children at the Table campaign alongside
In our proposed document we have also called on our Government to tackle child poverty by ending any policies that is required to address the child poverty emergency.