Young people fresh from the care system will be learning to keep house, balance budgets and get on with the neighbours thanks to a new pilot scheme.

The Foyer Project, based in West Bowling, has joined forces with Bradford Social Services to develop the pioneering project which will welcome its first arrivals in January.

The Independent Living Skills Training Project is aimed at young people aged 15 to 19 who are in local authority care.

Many of them in the past have found the transition from care to living on their own hard. People from the care system are more likely to end up homeless than others.

"We know from experience that the transition from social services care to semi-independence can be a difficult one," said Lindsey Mallory, housing officer at the Foyer Project.

"But with the right preparation, young people can make a success of it. This is an exciting project, which we hope will help at least a small number of young people to avoid homelessness and fulfil their potential."

The Foyer hopes to train up to five people at a time, over a two-month period. The training is only for people who have been in care, and should make it easier for them to gain one of the 55 places available at the Foyer.

The training would cover

Independent living skills, household management

Welfare rights and benefits

Debt advice and money management

Social relationships

Health and safety

Employment skills, careers guidance

Numeracy and literacy

IT and Internet skills

The chance to do voluntary work for the community

In the past, some young people have struggled to adjust to life at the Foyer, which caters for the 16 to 25 age group and offers accommodation, training courses and support. Some youngsters arrive with little idea of the basic skills needed to look after themselves, or are already deep in debt.

"We have 16 and 17-year-olds who already owe hundreds of pounds either from catalogues, bank overdrafts, unpaid fines or failed tenancies," Lindsey said.

The idea is that by doing basic training first, young people are more likely to be accepted for a place at the Foyer and are more likely to be successful there.

Lindsey said: "We hope if this course is successful we will be able to make it a long running thing."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.