06.08.19

With nearly a year (September 2020) until the first child turns 18 who has a Child Trust Fund, we were extremely excited to see that the Child Trust Access Campaign Petition has now reached over 3,000 signatures. A recent comment on the petition stated that ‘It’s outrageous to discriminate against these young people and their families in this way! Why should they endure an expensive fight to access their own money?!’ Another person goes on to say that ‘As a parent of a child with special needs I feel that this needs to change.’

We are also taking part in the consultation on HMRC draft regulations which could ensure that the funds in maturing Child Trust Fund accounts retain their tax advantaged status post maturity. This technical consultation is designed to gather views on the draft regulations. Although this isn’t directly related to the issues highlighted by the Child Trust Fund Access campaign, HMRC are consulting with ‘organisations concerned with promoting financial awareness and capacity among children and young adults’. We’re hoping that raising the awareness of this campaign within a Government organisation may help to elevate this issue further.

We have also made contact with several journalists who have previously written about Child Trust Funds to highlight the Child Trust Fund Access campaign, at the time of writing we’re in correspondence with The Mirror to hopefully communicate the issue to their readership.

We continue to raise awareness of the campaign at all seminars, coffee mornings and events we speak at, who are attended by families with a disabled child who may have a Child Trust Fund. The majority of the people we speak to simply have no idea of the issue the campaign is highlighting and how to go about accessing the money they have been putting into the Child Trust Fund.

For more information about the #ChildTrustFundAccess Campaign please visit: https://www.renaissancelegal.co.uk/child-trust-fund-access/and to share the petition with your friends and family you can click here.