Freedom Futures started as an idea 2017 when we noticed a huge problem:
Young people leaving care were really struggling to find affordable and accessible accommodation when they turned 18 years-old.
Social research has shown that having a safe and stable place to call home can really make a positive difference to a person’s future. It’s important to have a place where you can rest and be yourself. Somewhere affordable where you don’t have to stress about the bills. Somewhere peaceful so you can sleep well, focus on study, or relax after work. Somewhere you can invite good friends over to cook together and laugh.
It’s usual for young adults in the UK to move out of home and into private shared houses or flat-shares as a stepping-stone to independence. Often a parent or caregiver can help with some money towards a deposit or even act as a guarantor. They might be able to contribute towards the rent during the settling-in period, or pop round on the weekends with some bits to stock the fridge or to help with DIY.
Things are more difficult for young people leaving care. They need to rely on Children’s Services contributing to their deposit and can experience stigma from landlords if they plan to fund their rent through Universal Credit. Care Leavers are limited to the Local Housing Allowance Rate available in their area, and they may not feel they have the level of help they need from their assigned Personal Advisor.
This got us thinking...
What if we could design a scheme where Care Leavers could have the advantage when looking to rent in the private sector?
And what if we could make it appealing to landlords too so that they would prefer to rent to Care Leavers?
Not only would this help Care Leavers find great and affordable places to live, but what if we could also build a community of tenants who could befriend and support each other? Who we could invite to get together for meals, excursions, regular exercise groups, and holidays? Who we could support with learning independence skills like money management, home maintenance and career planning?
That sounded exciting!
So we decided to give it a go and launch the Freedom Futures Pilot project...
A word about our bird...
Our logo is inspired by a small friendly bird from Southern Africa called the Social Weaver.
Social weavers are known for their unique nesting behaviours. They cooperatively build one nest for the entire colony, and the most intriguing part is that they instinctively also prepare nests for future residents.
Amazingly, they welcome birds from other species to move into the vacant chambers of their colonies. Scientists are not sure exactly why they demonstrate this caring behaviour, but we like to think that they - like us - choose to make homes for the joy of using their skills and resources to provide for others.
You might notice that we use lots of bold and bright colours. This is because we want every detail of what we do to communicate that a bold and bright future is always possible.
We also want to make sure we use language that cares and empowers. We want to communicate clearly and simply so anyone can understand. If you think we could improve our wording or phrasing then please let us know: