We are pleased to announce the release of the Hounslow for You (h4u) Care Leavers App. 

The app is a joint project between the London Borough of Hounslow and the focusgov team to bring vital information to care leavers in one place. Hounslow is one of the capital's most diverse boroughs and as of August 2022, look after 290 care leavers. Until recently, Hounslow were communicating with their young people through traditional methods, such as text, emails, phone calls and face to face visits. They wanted to increase participation and engagement and speed up access to information and services. 
 
With h4u, care leavers can find a wide variety of information and advice, on their devices, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The App also promotes local events and activities in and around Hounslow, helping reduce the social isolation that care leavers often say is a day-to-day challenge. 

The App includes a directory of local services that provide additional help and support for young people and a regional apprenticeships feed, helping young people get into work and training. Content within the App is available in multiple languages. 
 
Hounslow Council started this project in February 2022. To make sure the app suited the needs of care leavers in Hounslow, care leavers were involved in a co-production session where they could voice what they really wanted in their app and were able to have a real input in the look and feel of it, choosing their own colours, imagery styles, and accessible fonts. 

The app is available from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store  and will be kept up to date by the Hounslow team.