Young Carers

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Young Carers

Young carers are children up to the age of 18 who care for someone with an illness or disability. It does not include those paid to provide care or those who are volunteers.

Some children might be caring for someone full-time and the level of care they offer may have an impact on what else they are able to do. This might be because they attend to all the physical care needs of their parent or carer. Other children might help care for someone from time to time and it may not have such a significant impact on their lives.

How to identify a young carer and refer

Young carers may not even recognise that they are doing anything that their friends don’t do, and they may not be open about it with people. It will be those trusted adults that see young carers every day who may be able to notice and ask questions.

If you know someone that may be a young carer, or are a young carer yourself, you can ask your local Family Hub or Youth Hub for support.

When you contact your local Family or Youth Hub, they will put you in contact with the Young Carer Team who offer a range of support to young carers.

Young Carers offer

The Young Carer Team deliver a range of groups and interventions to young carers up to the age of 17, including:

Group Programmes:

The Young Carer Team deliver weekly groups across the Family and Youth Hubs across the district. This is a rolling programme of support around young carer duties and the impact being a young carer can have. The groups also provide peer support and access to positive activities.

The Young Carer Team also deliver monthly Zoom sessions for young carers who cannot attend face-to-face groups.

One-to-One Interventions:

A Young Carer Engagement Worker supports young carers to access interventions if they need extra one-to-one support.

Young Carer Forum:

There is a Young Carer Forum every term where young carers can have a say about the decisions which impact them.

District-wide activities:

The Young Carer Team offer different activities for young carers and their families. This includes activities in school holiday periods and the annual National Young Carers’ Day.

To find out more about these activities and when they are running in your area, please contact your local Family Hub or Youth Hub.

18 and Over

Young carers who are 18 or older are supported to transition to the Carer’s Wakefield service. If a young carer is identified at 18, they will need to be referred to Carer’s Wakefield via the following pathways:

Telephone: 01924 305544

Email: info@carerswakefield.org.uk

Direct through the website: Wakefield Carers – Helping Carers Care (carerswakefield.org.uk)