Your entitlements - care leavers

You can get:

• a birthday gift until you are at least 21 years old to the value of £25, and £50 on your 21st birthday
• a festival gift to the value of £20 at the time you celebrate important times in the year. This could be for Christmas, Eid, or another festival
• a contribution towards additional food costs during Ramadan if you are living independently or in supported accommodation 
• the cost of your first passport covered
• the cost of a suitcase or personal luggage if you do not already have this 
• a sim card on Vodafone to help you keep in touch. This gives you:
  • unlimited calls, unlimited texts and up to 10GB of data per month.  We cannot give you money towards any contracts you have already got or any that you have set up on your own. If you need a phone you can use your personal budget to buy one
• comfortable clothes to wear during pregnancy with a clothing grant of £100. When your baby is born, we would love to visit and bring you a new baby gift
• ‘Ask Jan Membership’ if you want this
• weekly personal payment of £10 if you are in custody
• matched financial support towards up to 6 driving lessons may be available 

A Personal Budget of £700 to use with your Personal Adviser’s support before you are 25 years old.  

This can pay for things like:

• emergency payments
• bridging payments when you are waiting for your benefits to be paid
• replacement photographic ID birth certificate
• travel costs to see family and friends
• leisure costs 
• a mobile phone
   

If you need help with money or food, we can help you get a food bank voucher. We can give you details of how to contact the local assistance fund.  

Rent and deposits

Rent in advance and rent deposit to help you secure your stable home. We can only help with a rent in advance, deposit and fees if your rent is affordable to you. We can only do this once.  

If you are:

• working full time
• and living in supported accommodation 
• and unable to claim benefits

We can support you financially with a contribution towards your rent and support costs.

There are different options which could be available to you. From 18 years you will pay your rent and household bills. If you are claiming benefits, you can claim the one-bedroom local housing allowance (LHA) rate to help you with your rent.

Storage

Storage of your personal belongings for up to 3 months if needed.

Guarantors

Care leaver rent guarantor scheme for your privately rented home. We can act as a corporate rent guarantor for you for  up to 12 months.

We may also consider providing 6 or 12 month's rent up front. This would be paid directly to a landlord or letting agent. This will be a one off payment. It is a legally binding arrangement that the landlord or letting agent holds as security against the need for you to continue to pay your rent.  

Home Grant

Setting up Home Grant of at least £2000 ( £3000 if you were 18 after April 2023)  to be used before you are 25 years old.

New home parcel

New home parcel when you move into your first home. 
This will include:

• items to keep your home clean
• some kitchen cupboard basics like salt, pepper, and sauces
• some essentials like toilet rolls, shower gel, toothbrush, and toothpaste
• a supermarket voucher 

Moving house

Removal costs and moving boxes for when you need to move home.

Council tax exemption

As a Dorset Care Leaver living in Dorset (but not in the BCP authority) and on your own you are exempt from paying council tax until you are 25 years old. If you live in Dorset with someone else, then your council tax bill will be reduced by 25%. If you live outside of Dorset and have to pay council tax, we may be able to help you financially. 

Water bills

Wessex Water give care leavers 90% discount on their water and sewerage bills.  

You can get:

• up to £300 towards a laptop or IT equipment if you are studying full time. Full time means for 12 hours or more per week
• incentive payment of up to £30 per week if you are taking part in work experience or volunteering for 12 hours a week or more  
• we will guarantee to offer an interview to any Dorset Care Leaver who applies for an apprenticeship with the council. They must meet the person specification for the advertised post 
• if you are on an apprenticeship, you can apply for a DWP Apprenticeship Bursary of £3000. This is payable after 4 months. You can access this through your education provider
• rewards from your personal adviser to recognise and celebrate your achievements

If you are: 

• living independently 
• receiving an apprenticeship wage which is less than the national living wage 

we can give you an Apprenticeship Bursary of £200 per month towards your living costs. We can also give you a contribution of up to £100 per month towards travel costs for the first year of your apprenticeship.  

Further education

If you are studying in further education (college) you could be entitled to a 16 to19 bursary for students in vulnerable groups of up to £1200.

University

If you are studying at university, we can give you a Higher Education Bursary of £2000. We pay this over the duration of your course. This is £3000 when living in London. Your Personal Adviser will pay you this in annual instalments.

If you are studying an Open University course, you could receive a pro rata payment of the Higher Education Bursary. The amount of you get will depend on what credits you are studying. 

In the summer holiday between each year of your university course, we can give you up to 12 weeks support of up to £100 per week towards securing holiday accommodation.

When you graduate from university, we want to celebrate with you and will give you a graduation gift of £50.
 

There are also some local charities which offer financial support if you need extra help. These include: 

• Dorchester Poverty Action  
• Will Houghton Foundation 
• Sir Samuel Mico’s Charities (Weymouth)  

There are also some National Charities which may offer financial support. These include: 

• Barnardos 
• The Rees Foundation  
• Trussell Trust 
• Turn2 Us 
• Capstone Care Leavers Trust 
• The Knapman Fund 
• Spark Foundation 
   

This fund is available if you are:

• over 18
• live in Dorset 
• facing immediate risk to your health and safety

The Fund can help with vouchers to buy: 

• essential white goods
• furniture 
• emergency utilities (water, gas, electricity)  

Find out more on the Emergency Local Assistance Fund page.

 

At 18 you may be able to claim certain benefits or tax credits (government payments) if you are: 

• a care leaver in full time further education 
• on a low income 
• looking for work 
• disabled 
• caring for a child, disabled or older person 

Find more information on benefits calculators. 

You might also be able to claim other health benefits because of a disability or health condition.