Kae Tapscott from Tredegar in Blaenau Gwent discovered he had £4,000 waiting for him in a Child Trust Fund (CTF) after his social worker mentioned it. Over three quarters of a million CTFs remain unclaimed, with an average value of approximately £2,200 each, leaving around £83m unclaimed in Wales alone. The UK government set up these accounts for every child born between 2002 and 2011, but many young people are unaware they exist or how to access them. The main reason for the unclaimed funds is that some young people have never been informed about their CTFs.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
About 6.3 million Child Trust Funds (CTFs) were created for children born in the UK between September 1, 2002, and January 2, 2011 as a government initiative. Despite this, over 750,000 matured accounts remain unclaimed, with an average value of around £2,200 each. The main reason for these accounts going unclaimed is that many young people are unaware they exist or have never been told about them. Kae Tapscott, a 18-year-old from Tredegar in Blaenau Gwent, discovered he had £4,000 waiting for him after his social worker informed him just before his 18th birthday. Kae urges other young people to check if they have unclaimed CTFs, which can be done through a free search on gov.uk or The Share Foundation's website. If found, the money can be invested and used towards future goals, such as buying a house.
Written for “Unclaimed Inheritance Benefits” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's sympathetic tone towards Kae Tapscott and the Share Foundation suggests a leaning towards the centre-left or progressive side of politics, as does Gavin Oldham's quote advocating for an automatic release scheme to help disadvantaged young people access their CTFs.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score +0.75 for article 564 · logged 2026-08-06
- Published
Kae Tapscott had no idea he had £4,000 waiting for him until his social worker mentioned it just before he turned 18.
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he → publish → 18
Kae, from Tredegar in Blaenau Gwent, had never even heard of the Child Trust Fund (CTF) - and he's not the only one.
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he → hear → Fund
They were set up for every child born in the UK between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011 with government money, but more than three quarters of a million accessible accounts are unclaimed.
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accounts → set → money
The amount of money in each account will vary, but on average it's more than £2,000.
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it → vary → account
Kae, who wants to be an actor and is studying performing arts at Coleg Gwent, is urging other young people to check what they may be owed.
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they → want → what
"Don't just leave it and do nothing because you might not receive anything if you don't look," he said.
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he → leave → anything
Kae said he had invested his money in an ISA to save for a house in future.
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he → say → future
But at first he struggled to find out the details of his CTF because they can be held by a variety of different providers, and in the end used the Share Foundation's free CTF finder.
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they → struggle → finder
"I thought i'd get it automatically but I didn't hear anything," he said.
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he → think → anything
"I thought the government would give it to me but I actually had to get it by myself."
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I → think → myself
An estimated £83m is lying unclaimed in Wales alone according to The Share Foundation, a charity that runs accounts for young people in care on behalf of the UK government.
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that → estimate → government
Most CTFs were set up by the child's parents with a voucher worth £250, or £500 in the case of low-income families, from the UK government.
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CTFs → set → government
An additional government payment was made when the child reached the age of seven and family members could also top them up.
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members → make → them
In some cases the Welsh government also made a small payment to the funds of Welsh children.
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government → make → children
Where parents or guardians didn't set them up, the CTFs were created by the UK government on the child's behalf.
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CTFs → set → behalf
Can I claim the Child Trust Fund?
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I → claim → Fund
About 6.3 million CTFs were created for children born in the UK between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011
More than 750,000 matured accounts remain unclaimed, with an average value of about £2,200
The amount of money in each CTF will vary
A young person can take control of their account when they reach 16, but they cannot access the money until they are 18
Never pay anyone money to help you find your CTF
You can conduct a free search for your CTF via gov.uk, external or The Share Foundation, external
Gavin Oldham, chair of the Share Foundation, said the main reason for accounts going unclaimed is that some young people have simply never been told about it.
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people → create → it
He said the purpose was to give a young person "some resources for when they became an adult so that it would actually give them a good start".
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it → say → start
Oldham wants to see the UK government implement an automatic release scheme for young people whose CTFs were created by the government because they are the group most likely to be unaware of their existence.
"
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they → want → existence
If they haven't found it by the time they're 21, the money should be released through payroll, benefits or student loan routes," he said.
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he → find → routes
The UK government said savings belonged to account holders and were held by private sector providers.
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savings → say → providers
"The government does not have the authority to access or transfer these funds," it said.
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it → have → funds
"The government is committed to reuniting young people with their CTFs.
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government → commit → CTFs
"HMRC works with providers, industry representatives and others to raise awareness and help individuals trace their accounts, including through targeted communications and a free GOV.UK tracing service."
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individuals → work → communications
