Leaving Care - Home Start hub
From "People Powered Custom House & Canning Town"
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Proposed budget
Description
Home Start Hub is a pioneering social enterprise designed by care leavers, for care leavers. It will provide a welcoming, one-stop community shop where young people can access affordable, good-quality furniture, household essentials, and decor materials at symbolically low prices, as well as receive free paint and decorating resources. Beyond just providing items, the Hub will empower care leavers with practical guidance and hands-on skills to turn an empty property into a safe, comfortable home.
The Hub will be run and managed by care-experienced young adults, creating pathways into paid employment, retail training, and leadership roles. This ensures the project is not only supporting care leavers as customers, but also developing them as future leaders, mentors, and changemakers.
Why this matters:
• Every year, thousands of care leavers step into independence without the family safety net most young people take for granted. Many are at high risk of social isolation, debt, or unstable housing.
• Home Start Hub not only reduces financial pressures by making essentials affordable—it also builds skills, resilience, and community connections.
• By empowering care leavers to design, manage, and run the project, we are fostering a cycle of leadership and self-reliance strengthening the wider care-experienced community.
