Support for young people leaving care

The Care Leavers team are a dedicated team of professionals who support young people transitioning out of care and help them to achieve independence. We work with care leavers aged 16 to 25 years old who were previously looked after by South Gloucestershire Council.

In South Gloucestershire (which we also call South Glos) we prioritise care leavers and our focus, in all the work we do, is to build positive relationships where care, love, understanding, and support are the foundations to build upon.

Our vision and ambition for children is that “Every child and young person in South Gloucestershire will have the best start in life, thrive and be prepared for a successful adult life.”

It is important you know what to expect as a care leaver and this latest Local Offer is written for you, following consultation with other care leavers. This offer is designed so you know what is available to you.

Our Local Offer Priorities include:

  • Focus on preparation and planning with you
  • Help you understand your legal and financial entitlements
  • Pay attention to your identity and history
  • Hear you and your voice and learn with you
  • Encourage your feedback, participation and engagement
  • Support your education, employment and training goals
  • Promote good mental and physical health and wellbeing with you
  • Ensure accommodation and housing options are suitable for you
  • Help you develop skills that you may need when you need them
  • Make sure you have important documents that you need.

Your Social Worker or Personal Advisor (PA) will talk to you about your entitlements and make sure you have a copy of this Local Offer to refer to when you need to.

You can also find a copy of our Local Offer on this website, along with a Housing Guide. We strongly encourage you to also download our Brides App as this will hold the latest offers and will be regularly updated with improvements to our offer.

‘Bridges’ is a new app that has been entirely co-produced with care leavers. Young people supported by the council have had a big say into the way the app works, looks and functions.

The benefits include that the app functions offline once installed, without the need for Wi-Fi, internet or any phone data. There is also information from other sources such as real-time apprenticeship vacancies from Gov.uk and the National Apprenticeship Service provides care leavers with instant access to apprenticeships in their region.

The Bridges app is available to download from Google and Apple.

Accessing your records

We have developed a process with the Subject Access Request (SARs) Team to help individuals access their care records.  See our Subject Access Request guide for more information.

Further information

There is a list of useful contacts for young people leaving care.

More information for those leaving care with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can be found on the preparing for adulthood webpages within our Local Offer.