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Buttle UK is a children’s charity providing grants to children and young people who have gone through crisis and are living in poverty. Buttle UK’s grants provide essential items for children’s education, homes and wellbeing. This blog was inspired by the findings of a forthcoming research paper we have written with seven estranged young people, ‘Surviving Estrangement: The experiences of young people through COVID-19 and into a cost-of-living crisis’, which will be available on our website in December 2022.

Estranged young people (EYP) are largely invisible. They have often experienced abuse, trauma and neglect. Family breakdown has led them to live independently at a young age. Living without the financial and emotional support most of their peers rely on during their teens leaves them extremely vulnerable. Most are homeless, experiencing significant housing fragility. However, they are not widely acknowledged as a distinct group with distinct needs by many of the sectors they interact with, as care experienced young people are. Nevertheless, we know that most young people interact with education settings at least until the age of 18, meaning that higher and further education settings can be primary actors in driving change.

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