Tag Archives: young carers

Young carer has her say on leaving school and the difference support can make⤴

from @ Reach

Young carers do an amazing job juggling caring and school work, but it’s not always easy.
If you’re caring for someone at home, the right support can make all the difference in helping you get the most out of school. Young carer Lauren, who shares her story below, is a great example of this.
Got a story (good or bad) about what school’s been like for you as a young carer? What do YOU think schools can do to help young carers? Get in touch, we are here to listen and have useful advice about getting support… 

 

“My name is Lauren, I’m 18 years old, I’ve been supported by the Falkirk & Clackmannanshire Young Carers Project since I was in primary school and I’m in my last week of sixth year! I’m so excited to leave school, feeling as ready as ever to begin the next chapter at university. I’m only feeling ready to leave because of the amazing support I received at school for being a Young Carer.

Over the last three years I’ve had the support from the most amazing Pastoral teacher who has helped and guided me into the next path that I’m about to take and I’m forever grateful that I’ve had her support.

Until I started getting support from my pastoral head, I was in a horrible place at school, where I bottled up all my stress and worry about home life and life as a Carer and it was eating me up. One day I burst into tears in the middle of a class because I didn’t understand what was going on and the stress got too much for me. And that was my first encounter with my Pastoral.

Since then I’ve gone nowhere but upwards, achieving National 5s, Highers and even having a stab at an Advanced Higher, as well as getting a place at university. I’ve heard so many stories about young carers not receiving any support from school and I don’t know what I would do without my pastoral, she’s been my safety net more times than either of us imagined!

I can’t wait to leave school. Because of all the support I’ve had from school and from the Young Carers Project, I feel ready to experience university life while being a Young Adult Carer because I know who I can turn to. I’ll miss my Pastoral teacher so much when I leave, she’s been a rock and I’m forever grateful to her. Here’s to new beginnings!”

The post Young carer has her say on leaving school and the difference support can make appeared first on Reach.

Young carers’ views – feeling ok?⤴

from @ Reach

Image reproduced with permission of CYPCS office. Illustrator Jenny Capon.

Young carers in Scotland recently took part in a survey for the Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland. They were asked about how their caring role made them feel. Caring is different for everyone – for a lot of young carers it means spending time with the person you care for and doing other jobs around the house to help.

The young people who took part said that there is more good than bad stuff about being a young carer – one young person explained that “coping with being a young carer is difficult, yes, but I feel proud that I’m making sure my family are okay”.  But on the down side, the more caring responsibilities you have, the more stressful life can feel. Getting enough sleep can be a problem too as you sometimes help out overnight – one young person said “I get really tired a lot and really depressed a lot“. Sadly, over half of the young people who took part in the research said that they sometimes felt they had difficulties that were piling up so high they felt like they could not overcome them.

One good thing that the research found out was that a lot of young carers like school, maybe because it gives you a break from caring. Also, that after young carers’ services, guidance teachers were the most likely to be the people that young carers could get support from. One young person summed up really well the kind of support that helps:

“More awareness from people around me on how I’m coping/what I deal with. People just to listen and try to understand, be more patient with me and more flexible with deadlines/pressures. Someone specific who I can talk to who won’t judge me and who will offer support and advice. More respite activities to get a break and to have fun, relax. Workshops to help me cope better – learn techniques, understand feelings and emotions in caring are normal and not to feel guilty”. 

Image reproduced with permission of CYPCS office. Illustrator Jenny Capon.

 

To find out more about the research, check out this infographic. 

Need advice or want to meet young people in the same boat as you? Babble is an online space where under 18s who are caring for a family member or friend can chat, share their stories and get info and advice.

The post Young carers’ views – feeling ok? appeared first on Reach.

Young carers in Glasgow have their say: “My friends don’t understand or don’t know the situation at home.”⤴

from @ Enquire - young people's blog

Did you know? The Carers Trust reckons that there are about 100,000 young carers living in Scotland. That’s 100,000 young people who care for someone at home by taking on practical and/or emotional caring that would normally be done by an adult. It might be that their family member is disabled or has a long term health issue, or that they struggle with mental health issues, drug and alcohol problems. Whatever the reason they need support, young carers play an amazing role in helping their family.

Enquire recently did a workshop with an awesome bunch of young carers who are supported by the West Glasgow Carers Centre. They shared some really interesting and important views and ideas about the stuff that makes school hard for young carers and the support that helps. Here are just some of the things they said:

Issues for young carers with school

EXAMS AND SCHOOL WORK

  • “I don’t have enough time to study while caring for someone at home”.
  • “A young carer might be worrying about the person they are caring for while trying to study”.
  • “I might be off school because of young caring. Might not understand  the work due to lack of attendance.”

MONEY

  • “Might not be able to afford school trips or school lunches or the uniform”.
  • “People might not like young carers because of their clothes and shoes – they might have to walk about with old clothes (might get bullying because of it)”.
  • “We don’t have enough time to go out and buy stuff’.

FRIENDS AND SOCIALISING

  • “Not enough time to spend with friends due to caring”.”Might feel worried about leaving the person they care for at home. Might feel left out if can’t go”.
  • “My friends don’t understand or don’t know the situation at home. They might be embarrassed or find it hard to talk to me (if they knew)”.

BULLYING

  • “Might make young carers feel stressed – might result in taking drugs and alcohol”.
  • “Might not want to go to school – might feel different, depressed or anxious”.
  • “I’m too busy to talk to someone about it (the bullying)”.

What can help young carers have a better time at school?

  • ‘Money for equipment and school trips”
  • “Emotional help”
  • “Extra time for homework (and less work!)”
  • “Teacher tutoring so that if you miss a class they help you catch up”
  • “A ‘time out’ pass –  Getting time off school, or access to a quiet place to chill”
  • “Young carer awareness assembly”
  • “Getting home schooled instead”
  • “Help managing stress and with time keeping – flexible times and dates”
  • “Young carer support worker should always be in school for support”

A big thank you to all the young carers who shared their views with Enquire.

For advice and info check out YC.Net

MSYP has her say: How money issues affect young carers’ chances to get the most out of their education⤴

from @ Enquire - young people's blog

 

This week on the blog, a young carer called Lauren King who is part of the Scottish Youth Parliament talks about their campaign Care.Fair.Share. This is a campaign about helping make sure that issues with money don’t stop young carers getting the most out of school and being able to carry on their studies at college and university.

What do you do at the Scottish Youth Parliament? As MSYP for Motherwell and Wishaw, I am proud to speak up for young people and to have been a part of some very big moments which have shaped the future of our society, such as making equal marriage legal and votes at 16.

Why did you want to become an MSYP? I became an MSYP to make sure that young people have a voice and so that the young people from Motherwell and Wishaw have a say in decision making.

What is the Care.Fair.Share campaign about? There is a growing 100,000 strong army of young carers in Scotland – not to mention the young people who don’t identify themselves as being carers. These selfless children and young people do an amazing job, day in and day out to give support and care to their loved ones.

The Scottish Youth Parliament says that carers save the Scottish Government more than £10 billion every year through providing unpaid care. That is about the same as the total cost of the NHS in Scotland! And yet young carers often struggle with money. They have enough to worry about; they don’t need money issues as well.

What are SYP hoping to get out of the campaign? By getting as much support as possible, we can improve the lives of Scotland’s young carers. The campaign is looking at some of the key money issues for young carers, including: looking at who does and doesn’t get access to funding such as Educational Maintenance Allowance; more financial help for young carers struggling to afford further education; and ways to lessen the cost of travel for young carers to and from school and college.

Why do you think the campaign is important? This campaign is very close to my heart. As a young carer, I know first-hand how hard it is to care, be in education and hold down a job. It is stressful, and for many young carers it is almost impossible to do all three. I was very lucky as a young carer because my mum supported me through everything. I became an MSYP, finished school, got into university and got a job, from all of which I did things I could have only dreamt about! These chances have been life changing for me. However, I know that in reality many other young carers do not have these chances.

This only makes me want to work even harder to stand up for this cause and make sure that a real difference is made to young carers. By helping young carers with the issues they have with money in education, I really believe their lives will get better in many different ways!

How can other people support the campaign? There is still lots to do. We need your support to be able to bring about lasting change for Scotland’s young carers.

Find out how you can support the Care.Fair.Share. campaign by checking out the SYP website here.

There’s a cool youtube video about the campaign too.