Brighter Futures Fund to directly support care-experienced children and young people and provide opportunities
The Brighter Future Fund is independently managed by care-experienced young people supported by the Council’s Children’s Involvement Service.
The fund will offer small grants which directly support care-experienced children and young people to build a brighter future. This aims to enhance Sheffield’s care-experienced children and young people with access to activities and opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to.
This is part of Sheffield City Council’s Community Parenting Strategy, with the next step of implemented the Brighter Futures Fund to directly support care-experienced children and young people and provide opportunities.
Sheffield City Council are passionate about supporting young people to have fun, develop new interests, skills and meet new people. The Council know that positive experiences and building strong lasting connections supports young people to belong, build successful futures and overcome past difficulties.
The Brighter Future Fund is one tool which enables support from key partners, voluntary and community organisations and businesses in Sheffield.
As a city, Sheffield has been at the forefront of supporting care-experienced children and young people in several ways, but the children in this city care service still require opportunities. The ways in which the community can help include mentoring, job opportunities, reading buddies, free leisure activities or donations.
Some of the brilliant partners in the Sheffield community who have got involved in supporting care-experienced children and young people include:
- Waitrose, who offered up to 10 places for work experience followed by a guaranteed job interview for care-experience children
- Zest, who offered free swimming lessons for children in foster care
- Cidon, who collaborated with the Voice and Influence team providing young people with care packages as they go into their own home for the first time
- Looked After Children (LAC), who providing gifts to children in care Ramadan advent calendars
- The Leadmill, who provided opportunities such as work experience for care experienced young people, and free tickets for care leavers
- Site Gallery, who have provided care-experienced young people with apprenticeships
- Sheffield Wednesday, who provided children in care with activity books
- But we’re on the lookout for even more partners!
Our Voice and Influence team recently created a video around the importance of Community Parenting, and how beneficial this is for care-experienced children and young people. The team recently shared their Community Parenting film with local property developers Henry Boot as part of this initiative.
Jake Schuette, of the Voice and Influence workers team who comprise of care-experienced young people, said:
“This funding is so beneficial to enable care-experienced young people like me so we can access activities and opportunities that every child should receive to enable us to live a happy and fulfilling life.
“We deserve to have fun, meet new people and develop new hobbies and interests like any other child, and this fund will do just that for us.”
Cllr Dawn Dale, Chair of the Education, Children and Families Policy Committee, said:
“We are looking for individuals, businesses and organisations that would like to support our care-experienced children and young people by providing opportunities, funding and discounts.
“This is a part of our Community Parenting Strategy to directly support care-experienced children and young people and build a brighter future for those in our care.
“Organisations who donate to this fund will ensure that all care-experienced children and young people can benefit from all the opportunities that Sheffield has to offer, and that they have the support and connections they need to grow up feeling safe, valued, heard, and knowing they belong here.”
If you want to find out more about how you can help care-experienced children flourish, please email CommunityParenting@sheffield.gov.uk.
Community Parenting is the term used to describe the collective responsibility to care for, love and champion our children in care and our care leavers to ensure they have every opportunity to reach their full potential as they grow up in our family.
Sheffield City Council are committed to taking a citywide approach to improving outcomes for our children in care and our care leavers.