This May, Harmeny became a new member of Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights), marking another important step in our commitment to equipping young people with life skills and helping them thrive into adulthood.
Our collaboration began while seeking support with a practical yet frustrating issue: opening bank accounts for the children and young people in our care. What should be a simple process is often complicated by the circumstances our young people face — another barrier in a system that should be supporting them.
Banking Barriers for Care-Experienced Young People
In residential care, when a parent or foster carer isn’t available to open a bank account on a child’s behalf, we encounter obstacles. Online applications often aren’t an option, and bank staff on customer service lines are frequently unclear about the necessary steps or documentation. There’s a lack of flexibility and understanding — and sometimes, a lack of willingness — to support these unique situations.
Even products designed to teach money management, like pocket money apps, are inaccessible because they must be linked to a parent’s account. This denies our young people the opportunity to learn about saving, budgeting, and spending — critical life skills for independence.
Conversations with organisations and professionals from our sector, revealed that this is not an isolated problem, but a systemic issue. This also falls short of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which outlines how businesses must respect and protect children’s rights.
Together recognised this and has been instrumental in supporting our correspondence with banks, while also raising the issue more broadly with The Promise to ensure local authorities fulfil their duty in providing equitable access to financial services for all children in their care.
Protecting the Rights of Children and Young People
Children’s rights are central to our work at Harmeny. As a Rights Respecting School, we ensure every child is informed of their rights when they join us. These rights are embedded in our curriculum, daily routines, and key worker sessions.
We listen actively to our children’s voices through individual key times, residential cottage meetings, and our Pupil Council. We also partner with Who Cares? Scotland to offer independent advocacy, giving young people a safe, confidential space to talk about their care or family circumstances.
Upholding The Promise is at the heart of our mission. Our transitions and aftercare service, Here4U, was developed with this commitment in mind. Through Here4U, we continue to support former pupils beyond age 16, and their feedback shapes the future of the service.
Read more here about our work with Together.
Together is an alliance of Scottish children’s charities that works to improve the awareness, understanding and implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
Find more about them here.
