#youngcarersawarenessday follow @CarersTrust
What’s it all about?
There are about 700,000 under 18 year olds in the UK who are carers for family members or friends who are ill, disabled or misuse drugs or alcohol.
That’s about 1 in 12 secondary school pupils.
They may be responsible for anything in the home from the practical tasks of washing, cleaning, shopping and cooking, or the physical care of their loved one including helping them out of bed and to get dressed, along with personal care and emotional support. They might be managing the family budget too, as well as looking after their brothers and sisters. All this whilst going to school, dealing with homework and revising for exams.The Carers Trust Network Partners deliver a range of services. They are made up of independent charities, offering young carers the chance to be young people free from their caring responsibilities through activities, clubs, outings and one to one support. The Carers Support Centre offers a fantastic range of services for young carers in the Bristol and South Gloucestershire area: https://www.carerssupportcentre.org.uk/young-carers/
Get Involved…
Fundraising is a great way to show support for Young Carers Awareness Day. Time your events to coincide with the day itself, or use the day as a springboard to say what you are planning to do. It’s a great way to help them get their message out there. From bucket collections to sponsored events, cake sales and coffee mornings there are loads of eye-catching ways to raise awareness and cash!
Run a social media campaign to raise awareness among your existing customer base, and let everyone know about the great work you are doing and why this is important to you. If you have one it could form part of your developing younger audiences campaign…
Do you ever get any famous visitors to your venue or organisation? If you do, maybe you could offer your local young carers groups the chance to have a meet and greet with them. What about offering our local young carers a free behind the scenes tour, or some tickets to a show or event coming soon.
It would be great if you could offer regular opportunities for the group to visit you again, and to let them know they are supported in their community, and not alone. Maybe they have group meet-ups and you could be part of their list of supportive partners, offering to host some of their events.
The Carers Trust website has some great free resources that you can download, such as posters and suggested activities.
https://carers.org/young-carers-awareness-day-2018
https://www.carerssupportcentre.org.uk/young-carers/
