In November 2025, Tameside Council extended its celebration of care leavers to a full month, offering activities designed to “shine a light on the voices, achievements and resilience of young people who’ve left care”. The programme includes a wide range of activities, from bowling and pottery painting to weekly wellbeing walks, breakfast clubs, and retro gaming sessions. Participants are entered into weekly raffles, culminating in a grand prize draw at the end of the month.
According to the Local Authority, these activities are funded in part by donations from commissioned care providers, including Inicio and TPR Care Services, alongside support from local businesses. Cllr Teresa Smith, Executive Member for Children and Families, described the initiative as a way to recognise and support young people transitioning out of care:
“Our care leavers are remarkable and resilient young people who deserve to have their voices heard and their talents, achievements and opinions recognised in our community… It is important they feel supported and heard so we can help them find their identity and move into adulthood with all the skills they need to live a good life and achieve their best.”
Tameside Council highlights that local care leavers were represented at the Greater Manchester Care Leavers Awards on 29 October 2025, where six young people were shortlisted and two performed solo singing pieces, demonstrating their talent and determination.
Celebration in context
While the Local Authority’s narrative emphasises fun, achievement, and recognition, experts argue that such events provide only a partial picture of life for young people leaving care. National charity Become, which works to support care leavers, declined to comment directly on the donations from commissioned providers. However, when North West Bylines got in touch with Become, a charity that helps young care leavers find a place in life, their staff highlighted ongoing challenges through its End the Care Cliff campaign.
The campaign draws attention to the risks young people face when they leave care, often being expected to live independently at 18 or earlier, without sufficient preparation or support. As Become describes it, the abrupt transition is experienced by many as a’“cliff edge’, with serious consequences for mental health, housing stability, and economic security.
Become’s 2025 research also found that 15,134 children in care, approximately 34% of the total, were moved during school years 10 to 13, often coinciding with key exams such as GCSEs and A-levels. Such disruptions, the charity warns, can have profound effects on education, wellbeing, and personal development, and make abrupt independence at 18-years-old even more difficult to achieve.
The care cliff: dangers lurking after the celebration
For many young people leaving care, enjoyment and recognition during organised events cannot offset structural challenges. Become reports that care leavers are nine times more likely than their peers to face homelessness, yet only 38% of local authorities provide deposit or rent guarantor schemes to help them secure accommodation.
The charity also notes that the number of care leavers in England facing homelessness has increased by 54% over the past five years. Such figures highlight a stark contrast with celebratory initiatives, raising concerns about whether events funded by donations from care providers address real, long-term needs.
Testimonials collected by Become illustrate the emotional weight of leaving care. Max, a care leaver, described living alone as extremely difficult:
“Living alone has been very difficult. I was in a very dark place when I first left care and I’m terrified of being alone… If there’s nobody to go home to, it breaks me.”
Another young person, Casey, described how moving into supported accommodation at 16 led to a rapid decline in their mental health, disrupting both education and wellbeing. Experiences such as these underline the importance of long-term, structured support for young people transitioning out of care.
Donations from providers, transparency and governance
The Tameside Council press release states that activities are funded through donations from commissioned providers such as Inicio and TPR Care Services, but no details are provided regarding oversight, declaration, or approval of how these contributions are used.
Experts in the care sector stress that when organisations holding care contracts fund activities for the same young people, transparency is essential to avoid potential conflicts of interest or the perception of influence. While the donations enable a broader programme of activities, it is not clear whether independent verification exists, or whether these contributions align with formal, ethical or governance standards.
What the programmes achieve and what they don’t
Cllr Smith’s comments emphasise the importance of celebrating the achievements of care leavers, recognising their resilience, and helping them develop skills for adulthood There is no question that these activities are enjoyable and provide opportunities for socialisation, creativity, and personal recognition. However, according to Become, temporary activities alone do not address the systemic issues that care leavers face. The charity’s campaign calls for fully funded ‘Staying Put’ and ‘Staying Close’ schemes, allowing young people to remain connected to stable support networks up to age 25. After all, in the UK in 2021 at the age of 24 only half of people had moved out of their parents house, and that age is rising. It also wants legal protections and priority access to housing, including rent guarantor schemes and exemptions from homelessness rules that penalise care leavers for circumstances beyond their control and consistent access to:
- mental health and wellbeing services,
- education support, and
- pathways to independent living.
The gap between celebratory events and these structural needs underscores the importance of evaluating outcomes beyond participation numbers or weekly raffles.
Lived experience matters
One of the most powerful insights from Become’s materials is the voice of young people themselves. The organisation reports accounts of young people feeling abandoned or ill-prepared for independence:
Jess, a member of Become’s Youth Editorial Board, highlighted how frequent moves disrupted her schooling and sense of stability during exam periods.
Casey described losing motivation and experiencing a decline in mental health due to inconsistent support during the transition to independence.
These testimonies suggest that, while well-intentioned, celebratory programmes may not always align with the expressed needs of care leavers, which often centre on stability, housing security, and reliable guidance rather than short-term events.
Balancing celebration and accountability
While Tameside Council’s programme is laudable for its intention and visibility, the contrast with evidence from Become’s campaign illustrates the limitations of purely celebratory initiatives. Without robust monitoring, evaluation, and transparent governance of provider donations, it is difficult to determine the long-term benefits for care leavers.
A few key points rose to the surface, first of all celebratory events are important, but not sufficient. Whilst activities like pottery painting, bowling, and wellbeing walks offer socialisation and recognition, short-term events cannot replace structural support for care leavers facing housing, employment, and mental health challenges. Second, systemic risks remain high for care leavers. Evidence from Become’s End the Care Cliff campaign demonstrates that young people leaving care are at significant risk of homelessness, poverty, and disrupted education, underscoring the need for consistent, long-term interventions beyond month-long celebrations.
Tameside Council’s initiative shines a positive light on the resilience and talent of care leavers, and donations from commissioned providers and local businesses enable a wider programme of activities. Yet, the voices of young people themselves, captured in research by Become, remind us that the “care cliff” remains a pressing issue. Only by combining any celebrations with consistent support, transparent governance, and long-term planning can care leavers truly thrive as they move into adulthood.
Celebration and long term support are both important
Celebrating care leavers is both necessary and valuable. Tameside Council’s month-long programme provides recognition, social opportunities, and a platform for young people to showcase their talents. However, evidence from Become highlights that systemic gaps – such as housing instability, mental health challenges, and abrupt transitions – persist.
Ultimately, the challenge for local authorities is to balance visible celebration with substantive, sustained support. Fun activities and awards can boost morale and showcase achievement, but for care leavers, the true measure of success will be whether they have secure housing, consistent support, and the tools they need to thrive long after the festivities have ended.
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