The Settle Post is a special publication created to mark a decade of Settle as well as the departure Rich, our Founding Chief Executive's departure. You can read the full publication here.

Extract: Rich's cover story from the Settle Post.

It’s surreal to think that an idea between friends has blossomed into the charity we are today. Back in 2014, Katie and I were working in homeless hostels and care homes in London and saw first hand the challenges young people faced when moving into their first home. With little support available, and often having to move at just 18 years old, many struggled and faced eviction and homelessness. We felt this wasn’t fair. Why should young people who’ve had a hard start in life be set up to fail?

This was particularly acute given we were in our early 20s and had only just started to rent in London ourselves. For us, this was a positive choice that we had control over, with the safety net of family support if we needed it. The difference faced by the young people we worked with was stark.

At this time, we were fellows on a social innovation programme called Year Here. This was an intensive 9 month programme that pushed us outside our comfort zones. It equipped us with the belief that we could change a broken system as well as the drive to turn ideas into action.

We used our frontline insight and developed our idea in the Year Here incubator. This culminated in pitching Settle at a live crowdfunding event in December 2014 where we secured a couple of thousand pounds to pilot our idea. The fire in our bellies was lit. Settle was born.

Now we had an idea and some funding for a pilot. What we didn’t have was any clue how to run an organisation or start a charity. Luckily, people saw potential in us and our idea. From our founding board, first funders and delivery partners – a host of smart and generous people backed us and showed us the ropes.

We designed the first iteration of The Settle Programme, established our vision of breaking the cycle of youth homeless and distilled our values – grow the good, young people first and good intentions aren’t enough. We secured a pilot to support 10 young people in Enfield in partnership with a housing association and got to work supporting young people through the programme, learning in real time what worked and what didn’t.

The pilot was a success. We saw that you could prevent young people from becoming homeless if you provided the right support and the right time.

Our next challenge: how do we grow to reach more young people whilst maintaining the quality and culture that makes Settle impactful? In many ways, this has been our focus for the last 10 years and I’m proud we’ve been able to go a long way to achieving this.

But it’s not always been easy! There have been many bumps in the road, curve balls and dead ends. We’ve had to navigate austerity, the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. We’ve overcome organisational growing pains and faced funding setbacks. The hardest moments for me have been seeing young people struggling to cope – not through any fault of their own but through being left alone and unsupported. I remember one young person saying to me that leaving care is just about ‘living to survive’. These words made me sad, angry and determined. They gave me the fuel to keep going when things have been tough because I know they deserve better.

Despite the challenges, there have been many more moments of celebration and feeling proud of what we’ve achieved. From supporting over 750 young people through our programme and building a caring and committed team of 20, to developing a sustainable organisation that has £1 million turnover and is well governed and managed. Most of all, seeing the young people we work with flourish in their own unique ways has been a privilege.

Whilst we’ve made a significant impact over the last decade there is still much work to do. New government data showed a huge jump in the number of young people leaving care becoming homeless - a 54% rise in five years. At the same time, this issue has never been more prominent on the national agenda, with the Prime Minister saying in September 2024 that “homes will be there” for young care leavers at risk of homelessness, “because Britain belongs to them.”

As we approach our 10th birthday, we also reach another milestone: I'm stepping back as CEO to begin an adventure with my family, and handing over to a new Chief Exec, Dan Jones. I have no doubt that Settle’s next chapter will be even more impactful. Our brilliant team and partners will continue driving our mission forward, ensuring no young person leaving care faces homelessness.

To everyone who has been part of Settle’s journey over the last decade—thank you. We’ve achieved this together, and the future is bright.

Rich Grahame is Settle’s Founding CEO. He stepped back in March 2025 after 10 years leading our charity.