The Share Foundation – the charity which runs the Child Trust Fund (CTF) and Junior ISA schemes for young people in care in the UK on behalf of the Department for Education – is launching a new campaign to raise general awareness of the CTF.
CTFs were put in place for all children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011 provided they were living in the UK and not subject to immigration controls. This equates to over six million CTFs created, worth over £9 billion. It’s estimated over one million of these accounts are ‘Addressee Gone Away’ – lost to the young person concerned – and a further possible two million young people have little awareness of the money entitled to them. The oldest child is now well into their 17th year and should be getting access to their money in September 2020.
To help re-unite children with their CTFs, The Share Foundation has launched a new programme, CTF Ambassadors, to recruit volunteers to increase awareness. The goal is for people who are motivated by a common interest to help young people to be better prepared for the financial challenges of adult life, to step forward and become a CTF ambassador. Ambassadors will arrange visits to secondary schools and talk to young people, their parents and teachers about the CTF and how they can use it to start managing their money in adult life.
Gavin Oldham OBE, Chair of The Share Foundation, said:
“When launched, the CTF was a significant initiative designed to help children get into the habit of saving and to help them understand personal finance. However unless young people connect with their CTF and, if missing, find their accounts swiftly, its impact will be lost. Many of the lost accounts were ‘Revenue‐allocated’ when first issued: that’s why their families are often unaware of their significance.
“We hope our CTF Ambassadors programme will raise the profile of Child Trust Funds massively across the UK. We just need volunteers to help move it forward!”
Anyone wishing to volunteer should visit and apply through www.CTFAmbassadors.org.uk