‘I wish there was something like this when I was growing up’.
Anais Houillet, dance teacher & adult care leaver
As listeners will be aware, The Share Foundation has been a close partner of Share Radio for many years. The registered charity, which runs the Junior ISA and Child Trust Fund schemes for young people in care throughout the United Kingdom on behalf of the Department for Education, delivers the outcomes of inter-generational rebalancing for a very large number of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds throughout the UK.
Over the past few days, two of its major initiatives have reached the news at the same time, also coinciding with the release of its 2024 annual report, ‘Delivering Hope’.
On Saturday morning, in an interview with Paul Lewis on BBC Radio 4’s Money Box programme, I was able to set out the ‘Elephant in the Room’ for Child Trust Funds: that 300,000 young adults from low-income backgrounds remain wholly unaware of their good fortune, with a total value of £800 million sitting unclaimed in their names with account providers. The Share Foundation has so far linked over 65,000 young people with their accounts worth over £120 million through its free search facility, https://findCTF.sharefound.org.
Then this morning, The Share Foundation’s pre-launch announcement of its new online introduction to the performing arts for young people in care, which will be called, ‘Stepping Forward’, reached the BBC's main website news. This programme, which is being developed in tandem with Tring Park School and the Rothschild Foundation, will be accessible for 13-17 year-olds in care throughout the United Kingdom from early 2025.
So, today we'll celebrate our partnership with The Share Foundation by focusing on some of its key activities and links with Share Radio.
The outcomes of inter-generational rebalancing are resources and life skills for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The input needed to fund these should be drawn directly from inheritance tax, but too often they have to rely on philanthropic goodwill. Inheritance tax already raises £7.5 billion each year, and the swirl of media comment indicates that the Chancellor has her beady eye on significantly increasing its take: but will she ring-fence it for the benefit of disadvantaged young people?
We'll find out in the Budget next week.
Meanwhile, The Share Foundation continues to work hard to deliver the benefits of the previous Labour government’s plan for inter-generational rebalancing: the Child Trust Fund. The challenge for this initiative continues to be its successful delivery to the millions of young people who should now be benefitting from their good fortune: as at the end of October, half of all accounts opened will be owned by young adults, but our analysis shows that the great majority of low-income recipients are yet to become aware of their accounts.
The Share Foundation, whose annual report is currently being sent to all members of both Houses of Parliament and to local authorities throughout the United Kingdom, has submitted its ‘Default Withdrawal at 21’ proposal for HMRC-allocated accounts to Economic Secretary to the Treasury Tulip Siddiq at the end of August. We wait to see if the new Labour government will make good in delivering the plan set out by its predecessor in ensuring that the benefit of these accounts does reach their young owners.
In addition to starter capital accounts, life skills are the other main focus for The Share Foundation. Its Stepladder Plus course has been in operation for several years now, and over 1,100 young people in care aged 15-17 have participated in this incentivised learning programme in which they can earn up to £1,500. Over 63% have completed at least four of its six steps, and incentives earned thus far (all of which are provided philanthropically at present) now total over £1 million. Share Radio listeners will recognise Step 5 of the programme, which is the radio equivalent of the Open University’s ‘Managing My Money’ course.
The impact of Stepladder Plus on future prospects is now becoming clear, as a survey of nearly 200 adult care leavers is showing. Their NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) rate has fallen from the typical average of 38% for adult care leavers to 24%, reducing the excess over the 13% national average by more than half. This is also providing a major reduction in public finance costs: the incentives are generating a return of c. 700% by reducing future benefit costs.
Encouraged by the progress of the Stepladder Plus course and following discussions with Tring Park School with its pre-eminent role in introducing young people to the performing arts, the ‘Stepping Forward — Performing Arts for Life’ course is being prepared to provide a strong basis for introducing young people in care aged 13-17 to drama, music and dancing, particularly in order to benefit those who may find academic pursuits more challenging.
The Share Foundation is taking the opportunity to contact local authorities throughout the United Kingdom in order to build a plan for implementation in 2025 and beyond. As with Stepladder Plus, Stepping Forward will be easy to access online, and the charity looks forward to building in-person opportunities at a local level with local authorities and virtual schools.
Meanwhile, The Share Foundation’s partnership with Share Radio provides free registration for listening to our live stream and podcast library, and we look forward to bringing you news of its work for disadvantaged young people going forward.
Gavin Oldham OBE
Share Radio