Useful contacts

Useful websites

• Kooth - A free, safe and anonymous space for young people to find online support and counselling
• Become - The charity for children in care and young care leavers. Call their care leaver advice line 0800 023 2033 between 10am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
• Drive Forward Foundation - Support for care leavers in London that includes mentoring, career opportunities, and employment training.
• Rees Foundation - Life-long support for care leavers - Support for care leavers that includes grants, arts projects, careers coaching and driving.
• Spark Foundation - Grants for children in care and care leavers up to £600 for skills, hobbies and equipment.
• The Care Leavers Association - Small grant making organisation targeted at care leavers without alternative sources of funding.

London Advocacy Service | Action For Children

Looking for someone to support you? An advocate is there to help you understand your rights, share your views, ensure your voice is heard, and accompany you to important meetings. Action for Children – London Advocacy Service offers this support to children in care, care leavers, and care-experienced young people who need advice or someone on their side.  Click the link below to visit their website and get in touch if you’d like to speak to an Advocate.

Action for Children – London Advocacy Service

You can also make contact via phone on 020 7254 9408 or email London.Advocacy@actionforchildren.org.uk

National Care Leavers Benchmarking forum

The National Care Leavers Benchmarking forum is a forum of over 130 local authority leaving care teams, working together to share good practice and improve services and support for care experienced young people.

Children’s Social Care Complaints Procedure

If you are a young person, you can get help with your complaint by contacting Barnardo’s Advocacy services. They help young people who want to complain about children in care of care leaver’s services.  You can also ask us to contact the organisation on your behalf.

• Make a complaint about children's social care