What is a Young Carer?
A Young Carer is a child or young person under the age of 18 years, whose life has been affected by their significant caring role for a family member who may suffer from one of the following:
- Long Term illness
- Physical disability
- Mental ill health
- Learning disability
- Drug or Alcohol misuse
Being a Young Carer can be very lonely. Often, time is so taken up doing tasks so there is no time for friendships and that can lead to isolation. Young Carers may want to keep these things to themselves for a number of reasons, perhaps being worried about bullying or intervention by statutory services.
What do Young Carers do?
- Domestic chores like cleaning, cooking, shopping.
- Personal care – washing, dressing, toileting.
- Family responsibilities – caring for younger brothers and sisters, managing money, paying bills.
- Medical care, administer medication/injections.
If you are a young carer, there are people who can help you. You can start to get help by contacting us. Just complete the Young Carers registration Form.
Help you can get includes letting your school know you are a carer, so you can get extra help with learning, extra time to complete homework. A break from caring can be arranged so you can spend more time with your friends and do things you enjoy like sports, going to the cinema etc.