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Young Carers - Learners Page

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Are you Young Carer?

A Definition of a Young Carer 

You are a Young Carer if you under the age of 18 and providing unpaid help and support to someone with a long term physical disability or mental health condition or problems with drugs and alcohol. Sometimes, the person you care for would not be able to function without your physical or emotional help. 

 

You may be supporting a family member by having extra responsibilities on top of what would be considered normal by an average household.  This could be things like: 

 

  • Providing emotional support for someone in your family. This could be your mum or dad, if they are depressed 

  • Helping to calm down your brother / sister when they’re angry. Listening to their worries, reassuring them and keeping them company.

  • If your parent has a mental health problem you may have to cope with them being anxious and worried or cope with mood swings and unusual behaviour. 

  • Having extra responsibilities at home that your non-caring friends don’t. This could be: colleting the washing, mopping the floor, making breakfast every day, hoovering and watching over the family.

  • Helping them to fill out forms/managing bills and budgets.

  • Taking them to the doctors and / or hospital appointments for their check-ups.

  • Helping them to get ready, making sure they are alright and telling them everything is going to be ok.

  • Translating for hem if English isn’t their first language, they have a communication difficulty or if they have a speech or hearing issue. 

 

And all of this whilst trying to learn and do your homework and see your friends.  

 

You’re Not Alone

Research released in September 2018 BBC News and the University of Nottingham found: 

 

  • That is around two in every ten children aged 11 – 17 are carrying out some sort of careering role in England alone.

 

  • Half of these young carers said that their caring role did have a negative effect on their education.

 

Young carers often feel:

 

  • tired during lessons because of the support they are giving during the late evening, night or early hours of the morning

  • disproportionally responsible for things happening at home 

  • guilty for the things they can’t fix

  • anxious, stressed and isolated because of the role they play within the family

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Did You Know?

 

  • Young carers leave school with the equivalent of 9 GCSE grades lower than their peers who have not caring role.

  • One study reported that a half of the carers surveyed had missed school because of their caring role and a quarter had left without any GCSEs.

  • A quarter of young carers said they were bullied at school because of their caring role.

 

As we have found at Orchard Training, some of you simply crash out of school, leaving without any qualifications and struggling to see a path forward, because of your caring role. 

 

Our aim, along with Surrey Young Carers, is to help prevent these barriers to your education and which can continue into adulthood, restricting your opportunities for further and higher education and employment. Working together we can help change things.

 

Holding Hands

Support Available

With the right support, being a Young Career brings benefits, and many express pride in their role. That support is available from Surrey Young Carers. SYC works with young people aged 5 to 18 who care for someone else and support their families, by proving support and creating opportunities for them to socialise with others in similar positions to themselves.

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What this video (the link is below) to find out what it means to be a young carer. It has been made for a Primary school assembly. However, we can use it too! It covers all the information you need if you are under the age of 12. The video refers to a Young Carer Leader and I would be that for Orchard Training. If you need to chat you know how to get hold of me, you don't have to even wait for your next lesson if you think it is urgent. 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G74DRlphydo

Where to get further support:

 

Email: syc@actionforcarers.org.uk

Website: surrey-youngcarers.org.uk

Telephone: 01483 568269

 

SYC also has a service for Young Adult Carers (YACs) aged 18-24 and they can be contacted on 01483 568269.

 

You can find further help from 

 

  • your local GP

 

  • Childline                      

    • Telephone: 0800 1111 

    • or visit their website: childline.org.uk

 

 

Every year, we train to do a Charity Bike Ride as part of our P.E. curriculum to raise money for Action for Carers (Surrey) is a registered charity based at Astolat, Coniers Way, Burpham, Guildford GU4 7HL and Surrey Young Carers is part of this organisation. The money we raise goes to support these carers.

 

Declaration of Interest

 

Orchard Training’s charity of choice is Action for Cares (Surrey) because I am a trustee for this charity. 

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