Future First projects

The 'Family for Every Child' programme aims to reduce the number of children who normally remain in foster care the longest – those who are older, who have siblings or who have special needs – by raising awareness about the existence of these children and the wide category of people who can now adopt (eg single people and same sex couples). Such children, sadly, often go on to become homeless, drug addicts, on welfare or sex-trade workers. HSBC will part-fund the programme for one year.

Set up by SOS Children's Villages, the Life Skills Outreach Programme will give up to 90 at-risk children in British Columbia the opportunity to benefit from neuro-feedback therapy and literacy development. The therapy will benefit children who have experienced trauma, while the literacy programme helps them learn foundational literacy skills. HSBC will help fund the programme for one year.

The organisation La Casa Norte was set up to house homeless male youths and offer them the chance to develop life skills, enjoy arts and recreation opportunities, receive mental health counselling and prepare for a job. HSBC's funding will partly support the programme for one year, reaching 140 young males.

A new community centre in the Auburn-Gresham neighbourhood of Chicago will provide vital services to the local community, including a free day-care centre, a computer laboratory and job training assistance. Around 90 children will benefit from the project, which will allow many more disadvantaged children to access early education. In an area of high unemployment, parents/guardians will be helped to achieve more qualifications, enabling them to find a secure, better-paid job and improve their ability to care for their children both financially and emotionally. HSBC will part-fund this project for one year.

The 'Jacksonville Heart Gallery' project is a travelling portrait exhibition displaying the faces and biographies of foster children awaiting adoption. The gallery tours to selected locations in the community to increase public awareness of the children who are in need of permanent homes and to persuade families that are considering adoption to act. HSBC will part-fund the programme for one year.

The education enrichment programme will work closely with children who are wards of the state, with a history of abuse, trauma and economic hardship. A professional education consultant will create a profile for each child, to ensure they receive appropriate tests and are in the right school grade, while monitoring progress and attendance. Up to 26 children will benefit from HSBC's funding over one year.

The 'Independent Living Programme', which HSBC will part fund for one year, helps homeless 16-18 year-olds achieve self-sufficiency. Around 25 young people will benefit from the project, which offers vocational and life skills training to those who are either still in school or working and need an alternative to living on the streets to help them avoid gang involvement, substance and other abuse, violence and exploitation. They include female adolescents who fall victim to prostitution or homeless teens who are pregnant or parents.

Nearly 100 Heart Galleries in 45 states in the USA raise awareness of foster children in need of adoptive families by creating travelling and web exhibitions of their photographs. Heart Galleries' success rate is around 50%, versus 5% through other adoption recruitment programmes.

HSBC's funding over one year will help up to 68 children by offering them educational and cultural opportunities through a mentoring project, to raise their emotional development and curiosity and instil a sense of purpose.