700,000 people in the UK are young carers. The role of a young carer can vary from helping the person with everything, or just showing emotional support. 26% of young carers are bullied at school because of their caring role. Young carers can find it hard to get to school because they might be worried about the person they look after, and because of this, 1 in 20 young carers miss a lot of school time. Barnardos runs 20 services across the UK which work to support young carers and their families.  


What does a young carer do?

A young carer does not have an exact job, but the basic outline is caring for a family member with disabilities. They might dress, feed, teach the person or might just help with medicines and entertain them. Sometimes a young carer might do all of the support if the person they care for does not have any additional help from professional carers. Every person with disabilities is legally allowed a carer to visit them.

How can you help someone you know is a young carer?

If the person is missing a lot of school because of their caring duties you could mention it to their teachers to see if they can help. Sometimes, just being there for them in hard times is enough and understanding that it can be hard for them sometimes. If you think you know someone who is a young carer and is finding it hard to cope, then the best thing to do is to tell them that you are there for them and that will help them.

My experiences as a young carer:

I am a young carer. I have been for most of my life and it has its ups and downs, but mostly ups. I found it hard at first to realise that I was a young carer and that although my relative did have extra carers I still have a responsibility. I have to be there for my relative and offer emotional support and entertain them. I help around the house with my parents some of the time, or I help my relative with her schoolwork.

Our advice to other young carers reading this:

Everything will get better. If someone is bullying you because of your young caring role tell someone that someone is bullying you because of that reason and remember that what you are doing is good. If you find your caring role too much, then the NHS or your local council is legally required to give your relative a carer who can help them.

So, being a young carer doesn’t mean that you care for the relative 24/7, it just means that you support someone you know who has disabilities. Some young carers find it very hard to deal with but over time things will get easier. If you have any more questions about young carers visit:

https://carers.org/about-us/about-young-carers

By Maizie, Louisa

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