Are You A Young Carer?
Young Carers are children or young people under 18, who care for a family member who may be ill or disabled. They carry out significant caring role, looking after a family member with a long-term illness, disability or substance misuse issue.

The caring role Young Carer does may include one or more of the following:
Emotional support – sitting and listening to the person you care for
Household jobs – extra domestic chores such as cleaning, cooking, washing up, shopping and ironing
Medical care – helping with medicine and injections
Personal care – helping with washing, dressing, feeding or taking them to the toilet
Physical care – helping the person to move around the house or go out.

Caring responsibilities can sometimes affect Young Carers in many areas and many ways. For example:

Education/Work
Bullied for having a caring role, missing school to help at home, having difficulty concentrating at school or completing homework.

Social
Missing out on social or leisure activities such as going out with friends. This may be because of lack of money or time, difficulty getting to and from activities, or having to be there for the person they care for. This could make a Young Carer feel lonely and feel like they do not have anyone to talk to.

Emotional
Spending a lot of time worrying about the person they care for, resulting in feeling stressed and worrying how they will be able to manage their daily routine as well as their caring responsibilities.

If you think you may be a Young Carer or your child is, please get in touch with the Young Carers Team by filling out our online self-referral form below.