What The Share Foundation does

The Share Foundation is a registered UK charity (no. 1108068) and company limited by guarantee, founded in 2005 and headquartered in Aylesbury, with a team of c.12 employees. It serves two distinct beneficiary groups: (i) looked-after children across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, for whom it is the sole appointed administrator of Junior ISA and Child Trust Fund schemes on behalf of the Department for Education (Junior ISA since 2012; CTF since October 2017); and (ii) the broader cohort of UK young adults aged 16-25 born between September 2002 and January 2011 who may hold unclaimed Child Trust Funds, including an estimated 750,000 young adults with accounts worth over £1.5 billion in total. It also administers Junior ISAs for children in care continuously for 12+ months, seeding each account with a £200 government contribution and supplementing it through voluntary donations from individuals, trusts, local authorities and corporate funders including the British Bankers' Association.

The charity's technology stack centres on a purpose-built operational platform that integrates directly with HMRC's CTF Register (via its partnership with The Tracing Group) and with leading account providers (NatWest, The Children's ISA and multiple CTF providers), enabling approximately 60% of findCTF account searches to be resolved within 24 hours. The product surface comprises findCTF (account-location), MyJISA and MyCTF (account management portals at the 17.5/18-year-old handover), the six-step Stepladder of Achievement curriculum (with an incentivised Stepladder Plus variant for 15-17 year-olds in care, paying up to £750 into managed accounts), the Stepping Forward performing-arts programme launched February 2025 in partnership with Tring Park School, the CTF Ambassadors peer-volunteer programme, and a catalogue of 29+ CTF and 24+ JISA guidance leaflets for carers and corporate parents. Cumulative operating outcomes include 121,000+ accounts located (c. £272 million) and 200,000+ young people supported since 2012.

Revenue combines a Department for Education per-eligible-child grant of £200, voluntary donations from individuals, trusts, foundations and the British Bankers' Association, and contributions from over one-third of UK local authorities into individual Junior ISA and CTF accounts (subject to a £9,000 annual limit per beneficiary). All end-user services – findCTF, Stepladder, Stepping Forward – are free at the point of use. Distribution is dual-track: direct-to-consumer via digital self-serve portals, and indirect via the universal UK local-authority network plus formal DfE and HMRC partnerships.

Name

The Share Foundation

Legal name

The Share Foundation

Website

https://sharefound.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Share Foundation is a UK charity that exclusively administers the Department for Education's Junior ISA and Child Trust Fund schemes for looked-after children, and provides a free nationwide findCTF search service to help young adults locate unclaimed accounts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Financial Services

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (52592)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)

Keywords

• Youth savings programs
• Junior ISA administration
• Child trust fund services
• Financial education programmes
• Charity youth services

Headquarters

HQ city

Aylesbury

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Contracts: Appointed by Department for Education to administer Junior ISAs for looked-after children (since 2012) and Child Trust Funds for looked-after children (since October 2017). Government provides £200 per child to open accounts.
2. Donations and Fundraising: Voluntary contributions raised from individuals, trusts, companies, and the general public to build account values for looked-after children. Over one third of UK local authorities make contributions. British Bankers' Association and others have funded Stepladder Plus incentives.
3. Donations to Individual Accounts: Friends, family, carers, and local authorities can contribute to individual Junior ISA/CTF accounts up to £9,000 annual limit.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Share Foundation is a registered UK charity founded in 2005 that administers Junior ISAs and Child Trust Funds for looked-after children on behalf of the Department for Education. It provides a free CTF search service (findCTF) for young people aged 16 and above, operates digital account access platforms (MyCTF and MyJISA), and delivers financial education programmes including Stepladder of Achievement and Stepladder Plus.

Product overview

The Share Foundation operates a platform of interconnected digital services focused on connecting young people with their government-provided savings accounts and providing financial education. The core offering consists of account discovery tools (findCTF for Child Trust Fund search, MyCTF and MyJISA for account management), financial education programmes (Stepladder of Achievement and Stepladder Plus for incentivised learning), and supplementary services (talkCTF for volunteers, CTF Ambassadors for peer support, Stepping Forward for performing arts). The Stepladder programme offers a standard version for ages 18-25 and a Plus incentivised version for those in care aged 15-17. These platforms work together with the charity's administration of Junior ISAs and Child Trust Funds for looked-after children on behalf of the Department for Education.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• findCTF

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 121,000 young people reunited with accounts totalling approximately £272 million
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered key, supporting, core, flagship and major.

• Tring Park School for the Performing ArtskeyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2025Development partner for Stepping Forward performing arts programme for young people in care aged 13-17. Tring Park provides expertise in delivering performing arts content.
• Particle6supportingTechnology or Integration · 1 February 2025Production company designing and delivering Stepping Forward performing arts programme content for young people in care.
• NatWest, Foresters Friendly, One Family, Healthy InvestmentcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 5 March 2024Account providers presenting at March 2024 CTF Conference on perspective of unclaimed adult-owned Child Trust Funds.
• The Tracing GroupcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2019Partner for CTF search facility and CTF Register integration. Danielle Higgins of The Tracing Group explained how the findCTF search facility and CTF Register work at March 2024 conference.
• Department for EducationflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2017Government body that appointed The Share Foundation to administer Junior ISAs (since 2012) and Child Trust Funds (since October 2017) for looked-after children and young people throughout the UK.
• NatWestcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2012Junior ISA provider for looked-after children accounts. NatWest provides account facilities as one of two current participating providers. NatWest participated in March 2024 CTF Conference at Church House, Westminster as sponsor and presenter on account providers' perspective on unclaimed adult-owned Child Trust Funds.
• The Children's ISAcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2012Junior ISA provider for looked-after children accounts. One of two current participating providers offering both Stocks & Shares and Cash Junior ISAs.
• UK Local AuthoritiescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2012All UK local authorities enrolled in Junior ISA and CTF schemes; provide regular data on looked-after children; over one third contribute to accounts. Essential intermediary for scheme operation.
• Official Solicitor / Accountants of CourtmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Responsibility for Child Trust Fund scheme transferred from Official Solicitor/Accountants of Court to The Share Foundation in October 2017.
• pfeg (Personal Finance Education Group, now Young Enterprise)supportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Education partner providing financial capability materials and resources for young people in care and carers. Developed guidance booklets including 'Financial Capability: a guide for corporate parents'.
• Open UniversitysupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Source of 'Managing My Money' course content, reinterpreted as audio podcast for Stepladder programme participants.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Family Fund: UK charity providing grants to families raising disabled or seriously ill children. Comparable grantmaking model distributing financial resources to disadvantaged children's households, with similar reliance on government and donor contributions.
• MyBnk: UK charity delivering financial education programmes to young people aged 5-25, including those in care. Directly comparable mission of building financial capability for disadvantaged youth, though delivered primarily through schools rather than CTF/JISA administration.
• Buttle UK: UK charity providing direct financial grants and support to children and families in crisis, including looked-after children. Comparable grantmaking model distributing financial resources to disadvantaged youth, with similar donor and government funding mix.
• The Money Charity: UK financial education charity delivering money management programmes to young people and adults. Directly comparable mission around financial capability for disadvantaged groups, with similar reliance on donations and grant funding.
• Young Enterprise: UK charity providing financial education and enterprise programmes to young people aged 4-24. Comparable youth-focused financial capability charity; notably referenced in TSF data via the former pfeg (Personal Finance Education Group) merger into Young Enterprise.

Broad incumbents

• Coram: UK children's charity supporting looked-after children, young people and adoptive families through direct services and advocacy. Comparable beneficiary focus on care-experienced children, with broader adoption and legal services.
• Barnardo's: Largest UK children's charity supporting vulnerable children including those in care. Comparable mission around looked-after children, but operates across the full child welfare spectrum rather than specialising in financial education or savings schemes.
• National Children's Bureau: UK charity focused on improving children's wellbeing and rights through policy influence and service support. Comparable work with disadvantaged youth, but operates as a national umbrella body rather than direct service provider.
• Action for Children: Large UK children's charity supporting looked-after children and disadvantaged youth. Comparable beneficiary overlap with TSF's care-leaver focus, but operates across a much broader welfare and fostering remit rather than specialising in financial capability.
• The Children's Society: UK national charity supporting vulnerable children including care leavers. Comparable beneficiary focus on care-experienced young people, but broader remit across child welfare, exploitation prevention and youth services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sharefound
• Facebookfacebook.com/sharefound
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sharefound

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Share Foundation