At the end of May, 6 young people attended our Young Carers Reference Group to talk about being visible, valuable and supported – reflecting the themes of this year’s national Carers’ Week and Lewisham Council’s current consultation on its new Carers Implementation Plan.
At the meeting young carers told us about the range of activities they do, from giving medication to taking their siblings to school. There were lots of similarities with the types of tasks they identified adults as doing, showing the level of responsibility some young carers are taking. Importantly they also identified some of the things that would make them feel better about being a carer. These included homework, study clubs, a tutor or mentor and general support from schools. They also identified support in the form of money, vouchers and some kind of discount card as potentially valuable. Young carers also wanted time to have a break from caring responsibilities, including trips and residentials – with lots of ideas for future activities for our young carers services. At the meeting, young carers also talked about how their role gets recognised, providing valuable insights into how we can identify other young people who need support in future.
We would like to thank everyone who gave up their time to attend and for sharing their experience and insights with us.