Healthwatch Salford Spotlight: Young Carers Action Day
There are an estimated one million young carers in the UK - children looking after a family member or friend who is ill, disabled or misuses drugs or alcohol.
A recent inquiry by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Young Carers and Young Adult Carers found these responsibilities are having a devastating effect on their education and future prospects. It revealed a shocking 15,000 UK children, including 3,000 aged just five to nine, spend at least 50 hours a week on caring.
Young Carers Action Day is an annual event organised by Carers Trust to raise awareness of the pressures placed on so many young people. This year’s theme is Fair Futures For Young Carers, highlighting how young and young adult carers are significantly less likely to undertake higher education or enter employment than their peers without a caring responsibility.
To mark the day, Carers Trust and its network of organisations and young carers are launching a Young Carers Covenant, the first UK-wide commitment to young and young adult carers. Young carers and their support organisations have written to councillors and their local MPs, asking them to support the covenant. Businesses and schools are also being asked to sign up to the pledge.
This month to celebrate Young Carers Action day, we collected some thoughts from young carers in Salford about what it means to them to be a young carer.
A young carer is someone aged 25 and under who cares for a friend or family member who, due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction, cannot cope without their support.
What might a young carer do?
- Practical tasks, like cooking, housework and shopping.
- Physical care, such as helping someone out of bed.
- Emotional support, including talking to someone who is distressed.
- Personal care, such as helping someone dress.
- Managing the family budget and collecting prescriptions.
- Helping to give medicine.
- Helping someone communicate.
- Looking after brothers and sisters.
Here’s what young carers in Salford have told us:
“My caring jobs are mostly fun and my mum gives me a reward for helping her but sometimes it can be boring.”
“It is alright to be a young carer. It's just like sometimes it's really tiring and like I worry a lot because like I don't know if they are alright while I'm not there.”
“I get told what to do quite a lot and I don’t like that.”
“It sometimes affects my mental health because I get stressed really easily and like when someone falls and they are crying in pain and u are trying to get them up, it gets stressful because you don't know what to do especially if my dad isn't home and I'm by myself. I also sometimes cry because, not all the time but lots of times, my little brother will ruin the day by saying he wants to go home or he doesn't want to do that so he won't do it. It's hard because we always have to do things that won't affect him so if it's too loud at somewhere we wanna go, we can't go, if it's too busy, we can't go it's just hard sometimes because he won't be able to do it, so I can't. “
“I want time to see my friends more and enjoy myself.”
“The only worry I really have is that I'm not doing something right. Like if they fall and I don't help them right I just make it worse.”
About Carers Trust
Carers Trust is the UK charity working to transform the lives of unpaid carers across the UK. It partners with its network of local carer organisations to provide funding and support, deliver innovative and evidence-based programmes and raise awareness and influence policy. Carers Trust’s vision is that unpaid carers are heard and valued, with access to support, advice and resources to enable them to live fulfilled lives. To find your nearest local carer organisation for advice and support, visit carers.org
