Care-experienced young people face some of the poorest health and life outcomes in England. Many leave care without the family support networks that other young people can rely on, while also navigating challenges around housing, mental health, education, employment and the cost of living. Nationally, 77% of care-experienced young people report struggling to afford food, 62% say they find it difficult to access the mental health support they need, and 40% of care leavers aged 19-21 are not in education, employment or training (NEET), compared with around 13% of their peers.
"We get to choose the subjects we found were hardest. We want to help future care leavers."
Young person in the project
The Manchester Care Leavers Collective (MCLC) supports care leavers to explore these challenges through lived experience and develop their own ideas for change.
Launched in September 2025 and funded by Manchester City Council's Department of Public Health, the Collective brings together care leavers aged 16-24 from across Manchester to build confidence, develop practical life skills, strengthen wellbeing and influence the decisions that affect their lives.
With trauma-informed support from HMHC, young people help shape the programme's direction, identify priorities, and explore solutions to the challenges they face. Alongside personal development opportunities, the Collective creates a route for lived experience to inform local policy, practice and future support for care leavers.
“We all just get it. We all come from the same place and understand the same things.”
Young person in the project
The project
The Collective currently operates across two groups, each shaped by the interests and priorities of the young people involved.
In Gorton and Abbey Hey, participants have combined voice work with cooking workshops, arts sessions and life skills activities, while developing a "what good looks like" roadmap for support from age 16 through to independent living.
Meanwhile, the Manchester group has focused on influencing wider systems change. Participants have developed eight priorities for improving life after care, covering housing, mental health, employment, travel, council tax and access to healthcare. Working alongside Brink Studios, they are now turning these priorities into a creative presentation to be shared with senior leaders at an event in September 2026.
The difference it's making
The impact of the Collective can already be seen in the lives of the young people involved.
After being supported to access appropriate courses, one group member has now been accepted to study Community Development and Youth Work at university, building on the skills and knowledge he has developed over this project. One young person discovered they had been incorrectly paying council tax for several years and is now working to resolve the resulting debt. Six young people have been referred into career mentoring through Catch22, and another has secured a supported internship - with their employer citing the confidence and experience gained through the Collective as a key factor in their appointment.
The HMHC approach
HMHC brings extensive experience in lived experience-led engagement, co-production and community power to this work. We believe people are experts in their own lives, and that services work best when those most affected by decisions have a genuine role in shaping them. This approach sits at the heart of the Manchester Care Leavers Collective, where young people are not simply consulted but are supported to influence priorities, shape recommendations and create change.
