For many young people who look after family members who couldn’t otherwise cope without them, downtime is not an option.
A young person with caring responsibilities may help at home with a variety of tasks including, tending to siblings, cooking and cleaning and even providing emotional reassurance. Warwickshire County Council and its partners can help provide some needed respite and allow the young person to have time to unwind and socialise with other young people with the same experiences.
Cllr Margaret Bell, Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health said: “It’s vitally important that young people have the freedom and downtime to enjoy a hobby, to socialise with friends and to take time to switch off, and as such services in Warwickshire are working together to provide young carers with the respite and support they need.”
She added: “It is our aim to offer a close supportive network across the county to help young carers to do all of these things and meet others of similar ages and experiences and I encourage people to find out more about what is available.”
Young Carers Caring Together Warwickshire (Young Carer CTW) has targeted support that can help with every aspect of a young carer's life. In addition to an assessment that will help with assistance for both the young carer as well as the cared for, there is also support with the following:
- Provide information and advice about every aspect of caring for family members
- Arrange groups and activities to meet other young carers
- Help for young people to meet educational aspirations and next steps
- Provide one-to-one emotional support in a safe place
- Help to access support to look after health and wellbeing
Carers Trust, Heart of England is the organisation which runs Young Carer CTW on behalf of Warwickshire County Council. Claire Dale, CEO of Carers Trust (Heart of England), said: “Through consultation with Carers Trust nationally, young carers have told us that access to improved support in schools, breaks from their caring role, easy access to counselling and financial support would help to make them feel less overwhelmed, healthier, and happier.”
She added: “We hope to meet some of these needs in Warwickshire through the Caring Together Warwickshire service which can offer support to young people when they need it most as well as connecting them with other young carers who understand how they feel.”
For information about Young Carers Warwickshire Caring Together please go to www.caringtogetherwarwickshire.org.uk or for general support visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/carers
Young people looking for mental health advice can share their thoughts and feelings with trained professionals at www.Kooth.com. The website also offers discussion boards and information articles around mental wellbeing.
To learn more about supporting a young carer, free training is available at https://youngcareraware.warwickshire.gov.uk/index.html?lms=none&enable-assessment=true