GMHP re-launches Care Leaver Pledges – committing to treating care experience as a protected characteristic and enhancing the support offer across the partnership

Four years after the launch of GMHP’s first Care Leaver Pledges, committing to providing consistent and far-reaching support to young care experienced people moving into our homes, the pledges have been revised following consultation with local care leavers.

Housing is integral to providing stability and security and supporting good health and wellbeing. A lot has changed since the pledges were first launched, the Covid-19 pandemic led to a lot of changes in how services are accessed and delivered, and the cost-of-living crisis continues to have a significant impact on everyone across Greater Manchester.

As part of the review of the pledges, we met with a number of young, care experienced residents across Greater Manchester. They told us that they welcomed the support offered via the pledges, because moving into their own home for the first time is one of the biggest challenges they face. They made it clear that they wanted us to go further by making the pledges more specific, ensuring that every care leaver moving into a GMHP home gets a similar experience and consistent support. They wanted to be listened to more and their opinions heard. They talked about the key moments for them – viewing and signing for a property, the first 6 months living independently and the importance of more regular support and check-ins throughout their tenancies, not just when something wasn’t going to plan.

This feedback was invaluable and led to some significant changes to the pledges which were officially launched at a virtual event attended by over 100 people in September 2024.

Andy Burnham (Mayor of Greater Manchester & co-signee of the GMHP pledges) said: “It is inspiring to see our housing partners across Manchester continuing to show such strong support for our young people leaving care. The pledges and the commitment to treat care experience as a protected characteristic reinforces the dedication that care leavers receive the respect and support they deserve.”

Not only do the revised pledges provide more specific support at the key times identified, but GMHP has committed to asking for regular feedback from young people and working closely with key partners including Local Authority Leaving Care Teams, House Project and Staying Close teams. We’ve already developed networks in each Local Authority between local housing care leaver leads and Leaving Care teams to improve communication and collaboration.

Following feedback from young people, who asked for training for all housing staff, an exciting development since the launch of the pledges has been the bespoke training offer GMHP has commissioned from Greater Manchester Youth Network (GMYN). Their Care Leaver Youth Voice group have designed and have started to deliver training to housing staff, drawing on their own lived experience in order to tackle the stigma about being care experienced and how support from housing providers can make a real difference. Over the next 6 months this training will be made available for all staff across our 24 partners.

Chair of GMHP, Charlie Norman (Chief Executive, MSV Housing) closed the launch event by saying: “GMHP is absolutely behind the pledges. It’s great to see the partnership working that’s happening and the part GMHP is playing in helping young people leaving care.”