Young Carers Action Day 16th March

On 16th March Warwickshire Young Carers, alongside young carers services nationally will be celebrating Young Action Day. This day aims to raise awareness of young carers and calls society to action to protect the future of young carers, find out more about the event here: https://carers.org/young-carers-action-day-2021/young-carers-action-day-2021. In the lead up to the event, Warwickshire Young Carers, wanted to take this opportunity to explain more about the charity and the children and young people the support. Warwickshire Young Carers is an independent registered charity, established in 2003, created to help identify and provide support for children and young people from 6 to 25 years old who care for a relative such as siblings, parents, or grandparents who have an illness, disability, mental health condition or substance dependence. There are currently more than 2,700 young carers from across the county registered with our organisation, while many still remain hidden. On a daily basis, young carers are monitoring, being mindful and responding to changes in the health and wellbeing of those they are caring for. The care they provide could include:

• Providing personal care
• Administering medication
• Helping someone get up, and move around
• Providing emotional support
• Arranging and attending medical appointments
• Completing household chores

The experiences of young carers can be quite different to those of their peers, they may not be able to have a family holiday or socialise with their peers. Their educational journey is likely to be more difficult as a result of the caring role they have which in turn may impact on the opportunities available to them. We work across Warwickshire within a variety of settings including schools, social care and youth and community centres, to support young carers, providing them with opportunities to relax, take a break, and achieve their aspirations. This is achieved through group activities, 1:1 support, provision of information, advice and guidance with the aims of reducing inappropriate caring responsibilities and promoting positive wellbeing. For more information about Warwickshire Young Carers please take a look at their website: https://www.warwickshireyoungcarers.org.uk/default.aspx

Posted by

Jason Nye