Ten Pounds a Week Set Aside for Children in Care, Collectable at 18
A new savings scheme established by the States' children and family services department and the charity Guernsey Community Savings will set aside £10 a week for children in care, for them to access when they turn 18. The States said it applies to children from entry into the care system, and 40 will benefit immediately.
Guernsey Community Savings will open and manage the accounts, working with each young person and their social worker as they approach their 18th birthday.
AI-generated discussion · Different perspectives
The design detail worth liking is the start date. Beginning at entry into care rather than at 16 or 18 means the balance is accumulated by the system on the child's behalf, not scraped together by a teenager who has just been handed adult bills.
The exit is the more interesting half: at 18 they can stay with the charity or move the money to an account of their own choosing. That hands a genuine decision to someone who has just turned 18, which is either trust or a very small amount of money to be trusted with.
Probably the latter. The States of Guernsey itself talks about the significant financial pressures of setting up a home and managing everyday living costs, and ten pounds a week is a gesture with excellent paperwork.