Money matters 16 to 17 years old

You are entitled to a weekly allowance up until you reach 18.

The table below tells you how much you are entitled to depending on the type of home you live in.

Make sure you have your own bank account so we can pay this money into

We want to support you to succeed in your studies and we will be there for you to achieve your qualifications and achievements along the way.

We can support you financially to buy items up to £175 for things you might need such as books, educational visits or field trips and any equipment you might need.

So how can we help you succeed

If you are not able to claim the 16 to 19 bursary then we will support you with £10 per week and a bus pass. You will need to be in:

• Full time education, training course or voluntary activity
• We also support you with the following, to help you in your study

Studying at Level 2 to 3 or learning English?

Your PA will help you to choose a laptop to help you with your level 2 to level 3 course or if you are studying English as a second language.

This can cost up to £325. We can only support you once with this.

If you are on an apprenticeship with a local employer it is a full time job which combines training, work and study, you learn as you earn. An apprenticeship can take anything from a minimum of 1 year but can last up to 4 years, depending on the qualification you are taking, either level 2 to level 4.

If you are on an apprenticeship with your local employer it is the learning provider who you/your employer has enrolled with who pay this.

For apprentices who have started their apprenticeship before 31 July 2023, you will receive £1,000 and for those after 1 August 2023, the bursary you will receive is £3,000, when you complete your qualification.

More details and to ensure you are eligible to receive this bursary

Jobs in the family firm

Blackpool Council operates a priority initiative that enables care leavers to apply for council vacancies at the internal advert stage. On occasion and where appropriate there are also jobs/apprenticeships that are ring-fenced for our young people. Please speak to your personal adviser about a Greater Jobs account.

Care Leaver Covenant

Blackpool Council is a member of the Care Leaver Covenant and has access to England’s largest network of professionals who support care-experienced young people. The covenants support is wide ranging and can include mentoring, interview clothes and accessed to employment opportunities. Please speak to your personal adviser about a Connect account.

This just tells you what financial support we can help with.

If you need any support in gaining or keeping a job please speak to your personal adviser. We have access to a number of resources to support including help with qualifications, extra ID and travel cost.

You will be supported to obtain formal ID documents including passports, provisional driving licences and a Citizencard. Your social worker will help you apply for your National Insurance number.

If you do not have any of the others, then ask your social worker and/or PA who will support you to apply for these.

We know that seeing your family and other people is important to you. This section tells you all about our support with getting about.

You can apply for a provisional driving licence in the UK when you are 15 years and 9 months old. This can be for to start your driving lessons for either a car, motorbike or moped.

You must have no convictions for driving-related offences, and we can help you with the cost of learning to drive.

Learning to drive a car

Once you have saved for your five lessons and provided receipts from a qualified driving instructor, we will support you with another five lessons (making a total of ten funded lessons in addition to your contribution).

Please speak to your personal adviser (PA) or the duty care leaving team if you would like this support.

We will pay for:

• One provisional driving licence
• One theory test
• Five driving lessons with a qualified instructor
• One practical driving test

To receive this support, you must:

• Be in education, training, or employment for at least three months
• Pay for the first 5 driving lessons yourself

Learning to ride a motorbike or moped

To ride on public roads you first need to obtain your provisional licence and then complete the compulsory basic training course (CBT) to get a certificate which includes a practical and theory test.

We will pay for:

• One provisional driving licence
• The first initial cost to pay for your CBT basic training course

As a celebration for your birthday, we will ask you what birthday present you would like.

Also for those of you celebrating religious festivals such as Eid, we would like to buy you a gift of your choice.

There might be certain times in the year where you want to celebrate your culture and/or religion and we wanted to make sure that you can do this

We want to make sure our services that we offer are right for you, therefore, we offer an incentive of £10 (voucher) when you get involved in co-production with us

All young people can have access to a Passport to Leisure card. The scheme provides free and reduced access to leisure provision for all of our children and young people up to the age of 25 years.

The scheme entitles the individual to free and discounted access to the activities outlined below at the following locations:

• Palatine Leisure Centre, 207 St Annes Road, Blackpool, FY4 2AP
• Blackpool Sports Centre, West Park Drive, Blackpool, FY3 9HQ
• Moor Park Health & Leisure Centre, Bristol Avenue, Blackpool, FY2 0JG

You are able to access the following at these sites:

Free activities:

• Casual swimming, badminton, table tennis*, fitness room access, casual rock climbing and bouldering, athletics track

*Free use of badminton and table tennis court, enables the individual to bring a friend to play with for free.

Half price instructor led activities, including: gymnastics, rock climbing courses, exercise classes, swimming lessons, roller skating, netball coaching and basketball coaching/ You can also download the Active Blackpool app from your app store.

Don't live in Blackpool?

Don't worry we will check to see if there is an free alternative leisure card for you to apply for or if not, we will pay for a gym membership in the area you live. You will need to discuss this with your social worker.

Here are other things that we do to help and support you. The table below outlines these for you.