Croydon Council welcomed the launch of a new Care Leavers app, to support care-experienced young people in the borough who are taking their first steps towards independent living.

The app, called Croydon Cares, has been co-designed and developed by care-experienced young people to provide vital information and advice on money, finance, housing and accommodation, as well as health and wellbeing.

At a launch event this week, some of Croydon’s care-experienced young people demonstrated the app to Croydon’s Executive Mayor Jason Perry and Councillor Maria Gatland, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People. They were joined by Councillors, Council staff and partners, and the National Implementation Adviser for Care Leavers, Mark Riddell.

Some care-experienced young people, who are also Young Ambassadors and members of the Children in Care Council, spoke about how the app had been designed collaboratively. The care-experienced young people involved in assisting the app design process were Javelle, Jordan, and Deshawn.

Javelle said that working with other young people to input into the app’s design had helped make it specific to their needs. She added: “This app empowers us young people with the tools we need to thrive, including support with financial issues and smart budgeting tools.”

Deshawn, who also assisted in creating the app, said: “This app is going to shape a better Croydon by creating more support for the young people using it. It’s got a really user-friendly design and layout which makes it easy to use. It also gives us users the right professional connections for work.”

“Our children and young people deserve every opportunity to thrive, learn and fulfil their potential. As corporate parents, we are determined to support our care-experienced young people every step of the way.

“An important part of this is making sure they can access the right information, advice and guidance when and where they need it. The Croydon Cares app will help to do just that – and it is a great example of our young people working with us and our partners, to tailor services to meet their needs.

“They have designed and developed this fantastic app, which will benefit care-experienced young people throughout our borough. Well done to everyone involved.”

Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon