Help young people find their Child Trust Fund!
Nearly half of eligible young people have not claimed their government-funded child trust fund savings account – please can you help them?
Over £2 billion adult CTFs unclaimed
What’s the problem?
Almost everyone born in the UK between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011 had a Government-funded Child Trust Fund (CTF) savings account opened for them, yet an astonishing 42% of young people who are now eligible (that is, aged 18 or over) to access their savings account have not done so.
The Share Foundation is a registered charity which works with the Department for Education, and it also ensures that young people aged 16-21 are informed about their CTF accounts (which are already open in their name) providing information, help and support in claiming what is rightfully theirs.
The average value of over 1.17 million accounts as yet unclaimed by young adults is c. £1,900, meaning that over £2 BILLION is waiting for the rightful owners to come forward and access their funds.
Due to this huge level of unclaimed accounts, we have extended our service to work on behalf of all holders of these CTF accounts.
Click on image for Find CTF registration
How you can help
Anyone teaching, working with, or in any way supporting 16 to 21 year-olds can play a vital role in getting the message across. Those aged 16 or 17 are allowed to find and take control of their account; those aged 18 or over can access their money. And, if you’re a young person who’s found your own account and want to help others, visit www.CTFAmbassadors.org.uk/young-adults
We’ll provide you with all the materials you need to tell them about it and how to find it: including short videos, a script and background notes.
The service which The Share Foundation provides has been set up with the help of HMRC and account providers, and it’s free for all young people – there is no charge whatsoever for our help.
Please assist us in helping young people who you’re in contact with to find their accounts, by running short events, including the information on your websites and in your newsletters, or placing the small poster below on notice boards: we can supply whatever number is required.
For information on helping young people with limited mental capacity, please access the Ministry of Justice toolkit or visit the charity Contact
Click on image for Find CTF registration
What you would need to do
Presenting a CTF event starts with a brief introduction followed by two short videos (each just over a minute long) between which there’s a short summary. You might also include one or two questions to assess general awareness of the account.
Here’s a document containing all the information you need to run an event: a script, lots of typical Q&As and more detailed information as background in case it’s needed.
Here are the links to the first two videos, which are hosted on YouTube:
- What is a ‘Child Trust Fund’ and why would there be one set up in my name?
- How do I go about finding my account, and what can I do with it when I find it?
Then you could open up some discussion to welcome questions and comments.
After this we suggest showing this third short video, also on YouTube:
- How can I improve my money knowledge, so as to ensure that I make the best use of my money when I’m 18?
Then invite any further question/comments before the meeting finishes – in total, not much over 20 minutes.
And in case we get queries direct from your young people, please do let us know if you’re holding an event by emailing info@sharefound.org
We also run virtual events for teachers, attended by our CTF Ambassadors who can also take part where appropriate in local events - please let us know if this would be helpful by calling 01296-310400.