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Earlier this year – for Young Carers Action Day, Carers Trust and the Young Carers Alliance sent an open letter to the Prime Minister, signed by over 80 organisations and more than 200 parents/young carers calling on him to show his support for young carers.
Eight months on, young carers and those who support them have still not received a reply. A number of the young carers who have been youth advisors to the APPG for Young Carers and Young Adult Carers inquiry felt that this is not right – young carers urgently need more support. So Carers Trust have supported 4 of the youth advisors to write a follow-up letter to the Prime Minister which they will hand in on Tuesday 14th November – the day the APPG inquiry report is published in Parliament.
We would really like to have as many other young carers and young adult carers as possible to add their name to the letter which is handed in for the Prime Minister. It would be great if you would be willing to share the opportunity for young carers to Sign our open letter calling for better support for young carers - Carers Trust. Young carers aged under 16 will need their parent’s consent to have their name added.
The deadline for adding signatures to the letter is Sunday 10th November. If you can't do it online, just pop into the Centre where we have a copy!
FAQs
Q – Will the young carer’s name appear publicly? A – No – the only names on the public version of the letter are the 4 names of the young carers who put together the letter with Carers Trust. All of the other names will only appear on the version of the letter that is handed into 10 Downing Street.
Q – Why do you need our postcode? A – So we can record which parts of the country people who have signed the letter are from. This information will not be used to identify anyone signing the letter.
Q – What if the young carer doesn’t have an e-mail address? A – It is fine to just use an e-mail address for a parent/guardian. This is required if they wish to receive updates in relation to the letter.
Q – What are you asking the Prime Minister to do? A – There are 3 asks of the Prime Minister in the letter:
Meet with a group of young carers on Young Carers Action Day 2024, taking place on Wednesday 13th March 2024 to talk about how he and his government plan to make sure young carers get better support.
Work with young carers to create a plan that specifically says what the Government are going do to help young carers, young adult carers and their families.
Support the development of the first UK-wide covenant for young carers and young adult carers - I have attached a short document that explains what the ‘covenant’ is – it’s essentially a UK-wide commitment to young carers and young adult carers. It will set out what we want to see for every young carer and young adult carer – very similar to the one that exists for care leavers and members of the armed forces community.
Q – Can people who are not young carers/young adult carers sign it? A – Given the open letter to the Prime Minister earlier this year from organisations, professionals and also young carers/young adult carers and parents – the idea was for this letter to stand out – both from the last letter, but also from other letters/petitions that are handed in. So this one is deliberately by young carers, for young carers to sign. Other people can still absolutely play their part (see below).
Q – Can any changes be made to the letter? A – This letter was written with and agreed with the 4 named young carers, and given there is less than a month until the letter is being handed in, there is unfortunately not the ability to make any changes to this letter.
Q – Who do we contact if there are any questions? A – Andy McGowan – Policy and Practice Manager (Young Carers and Young Adult Carers) at Carers Trust – amcgowan@carers.org
Q – Is there anything else we can do to help? A – As well as promoting the open letter and giving young carers the opportunity to add their names to the open letter you could:
Promote the open letter on your social media channels
Write to your local MP and ask them if they are intending
Join the Young Carers Alliance if you haven’t already
You can also support this work by writing to your MP and asking them if they are attending the launch of the APPG for Young Carers and Young Adult Carers report from the first-ever parliamentary inquiry – Tuesday 14th November, 3:30-5pm, House of Lords (they can e-mail appg@carers.org for full details).
Ask young carers/young adult carers the question “Why do you think young carers need more support?” or “What is your message to the Prime Minister?” and send in the answers either in writing or via audio/video clips.
"Thank you in advance for support in helping to get as many young carers and young adult carers as possible calling on the Prime Minister for more support." Carers Trust
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