Allowances and assistance for care leavers

Keeping in touch with family
Following an assessment and whilst open to our service, we can pay travel costs up to 3 times a year to keep in touch with the important people in your life who:
- live outside of West Sussex
- your social worker arranged contact with when you were in care and under the age of 18
We can provide this until you are 21 years old.
Travel must be via the cheapest route available and booked via the travel portal or by P card.
Cultural allowance
There is an annual £50 cultural allowance to enable you to get things you need to meet and practice your religion or cultural beliefs, such as:
- books
- prayer mats
- clothing
- attendance at festivals, ceremonies
- Christmas and Easter
- attending wedding, funeral or christening
We are keen to support you. If you think of something that you need that we have not included, just talk to your personal advisor (PA).
Identification documents (ID)
Up until you are 25 years of age, we provide help to obtain identification documents.
We will pay fees for a driving licence, plus one replacement and for a passport, plus one renewal. We can also fund a birth certificate for you.
For those unable to obtain a passport, we will fund relevant travel documents.
Your PA will arrange payment to government sites for ID.
You must keep these documents safe.
Travel to home office appointments
Should you need to attend home office appointments, we will fund travel to these. We do this as required and for whilst it is needed.
This will be arranged via your PA through the travel portal.
Care leavers in custody allowance
For care leavers who are in custody, we provide an allowance of £20 per month until the age of 21.
Driving and motorcycle lessons
If you are legally able to learn to drive we can financially support you. You choose whether you'd like to choose car or motorcycle lessons. You can access this offer if you are:
- under 25 years of age
- entitled to the full care leavers service
What we cover
We will fund:
- your provisional driving licence
- up to 15 lessons driving lessons
- You pay for 5 and we will pay for 5 lots of 1-hour lessons alternately. For example, we will match the number of lessons you purchase up to a maximum of 15 hours. You pay for 5 hours then we would also pay for 5 hours.
- Compulsory basic training course (bike training course) up to £200
- Module 1 & 2 motorcycle test fees (plus one retake)
- your theory test (plus one retake)
- your driving test (plus one retake)
- full licence once you have passed your test
What you need to do to access this offer
You will need to check that you are legally able to drive or ride. You can do this on the GOV.UK website as below:
For under 18 year olds
Speak to your social worker.
For over 18 year olds
Speak to your PA.
If you are closed to the leaving care service
Call the duty line. For the phone number, see our Contact us page.
Access to lifestyle savings benefits
We are offering you access to a new lifestyle savings benefit. You can access a huge range of discounts across the UK’s major retailers, including supermarkets, technology, fashion, travel and much more!
You can access this through the West Sussex staff discounts platform, called Vivup.
At the time of writing you could save:
- 5% off groceries at Morrisons and Sainsbury’s
- 4% at Tesco, Asda and Waitrose
- 7% at Marks and Spencer stores
- 7% savings at Currys
- 5% off your DIY essentials at B&Q
- on fashion including 5% off Boohoo, 9% off ASOS,7% off River Island and 10% off New Look
- on sportswear with 7% off Nike, 10% off Footlocker and 4% off Sports Direct
Note that savings and offers are subject to change. Terms and conditions apply for all third parties.
Eligibility
- a West Sussex care leaver
- between 18 and under 25 years old.
How to access this offer
You will need to register to use this offer, which requires your MOSAIC number. Contact your PA or the duty line if you don't know it.
Follow these steps to register with the Vivup platform:
- Go to westsussexchoices.vivup.co.uk
- Click on Register
- Select “West Sussex County Council – Carers / Care Leavers”
- Complete your registration details including your MOSAIC number
- Accept the terms and conditions
- Click Next
If you experience any registration issues you can contact the Vivup customer services team.
Vivup customer service team contact details
The team are available:
- Monday to Friday from 8.00am to 7.00pm by phone or email
- Saturdays and Sundays from 10.00am to 2.00pm by email
You can contact them by:
- Phone: 01252 784540
- Email: customersupport@vivup.co.uk
Health allowances
Health essentials allowance
Until you are 25 years old, we will provide you with up to £300 towards your health essentials such as:
- dentistry
- glasses
- prescriptions
- attending health appointments
If there is something you think is essential for your health, but is not on this list, talk to your PA who will be able to advise you if we can make a discretionary payment to cover this.
Pre-payment prescription certificate
You may be entitled to a pre-payment prescription certificate. To be entitled you must be:
- under 25 years old
- a West Sussex care leaver
- registered with a GP
- not already exempt from prescription charges
You can check whether you are already exempt from prescription charges on the NHS Business Services Authority website.
To access the pre-payment certificate, speak to your PA or contact the care leavers duty line.
NHS Low Income Scheme (LIS)
If you are on a low income (less than £16,000) then you’ll be eligible to apply for the NHS Low Income Scheme. This is a scheme that will help you pay for:
- prescription
- dental
- eyecare
- healthcare travel costs
- wigs and fabric
See the NHS website to check your eligibly and apply.
Gifts and allowances
Annual clothing allowance
If you are a West Sussex care leaver entitled to a full care leavers service and aged between 18 and under 25 years of age, you are entitled to a yearly £100 clothing voucher. You will receive this on or around your birthday. If you are open to the service, you can request to divide the payments to receive 2 lots of £50.
The voucher can be from a retailer of your choice, as long as they do online vouchers.
Speak to your PA to access this offer or we will be in touch on or around your birthday if you are closed to our service.
Christmas and birthday gifts
We want to recognise important occasions in your life such as birthdays for you and your children (if you have any).
At or around Christmas and your birthday you will receive a gift from your PA. This will be either a surprise gift or shop voucher up to the value of £20.
If you have any children they will also receive a gift on or around their birthday and around Christmastime. Your PA will give them a surprise gift or a voucher up to the value of £15.
Celebration gift
Up until the age of 25 you are entitled to a gift of up to £25 to celebrate the completion of college or an apprenticeship.
Other financial assistance
There are other areas of financial support.
Discretionary payment for emergencies
If you are experiencing financial difficulty we may be able to help with a discretionary payment. See our Money management page.
Financial help with housing
See our Housing finance page.
Financial help with education
See our Education finance page.
Financial help for maternity
See our Financial support if you are expecting a baby page.