Turning 18 should be a celebration, but it can feel scary, abrupt and disruptive for many young care leavers. For these young people, reaching adulthood can mean facing a ‘care cliff’ where they are expected to leave their placement and live on their own often before they feel ready.

To mark this year's Care Leavers' Week, the Become Charity is inviting care-experienced young people from all over the country including the southwest to answer the question 

What do you think leaving care should be?

They are interested in looking for BIG ideas from care leavers, and want to explore issues such as; what can be done to make leaving care better? Should ‘leaving care’ even exist? If not, then what might an alternative transition look like?

Find out more about the campaign and get involved with the conversation here.

There are also organisations in Bristol working hard to support young people as they take the next step towards independence. Barnardo’s runs a fortnightly group called Care Leavers Unite Bristol (CLUB) that works with young people to enable them to raise issues and implement change across Bristol for themselves and others like them leaving the care system.

CLUB members have identified loneliness as the biggest issue care leavers face in Bristol and have commenced a number of initiatives with care leavers to tackle isolation.

Both of our local universities, Bristol University and UWE, have peer support groups in place for care leavers studying with them.

On its website Bristol City Council has a really useful resource which contains its commitment to young people leaving care, plus details of the practical help and financial support available to young people at this crucial stage of their lives. BCC's committment to care leavers.