Young Carers
..................STOP
PRESS..............
The Bedford Borough Carers
Partnership Board wants to find out if carers would benefit from a
local Carers Forum.
To find out, we are holding an event on
Tuesday 9 April 2013 to ask carers what they
think. The poster HERE
gives you more information including
-
Details of how carers can book a place
-
Program information
-
Details of how carers can submit questions prior to the event
If a carer is unable to attend the event, we
still want to know what they think. They can tell us by
completing the questionnaire HERE.
The event is taking place in the Easter
Holidays to encourage children and young people who have carer
responsibilities to be able to attend with the SuperKids Young
Carers Forum presenting at the event.
If you want any more information, please
contact anona.hoyle@bedford.gov.uk
or call 01234 718345
.....................................................
“young carers are children and young people who help
to look after someone in their family who is disabled, physically
or mentally ill or has a substance misuse
problem”
Young carers can be
classified into three distinct age groups; each with distinct
characteristics and needs. These groups are under six, six to
14, and 14 to 17. Young Adult Carers are aged between 18-24 who
particularly require support around education and
employment.
There are three main
types of care which a young carer may be supporting a family
member. These are
- physical (e.g. personal
care, household jobs, meals, errands)
- emotional (e.g.
listening, being there for them, talking with them, helping them to
feel better)
- taking responsibility
(e.g. to keep the person feeling safe, administering medicines,
keeping appointments, responsible for getting help if needed)
The 2001 census
identified 175,000 young carers across the country. Within Bedford
Borough there are currently 159 identified young carers / young
adult carers (Carers in Bedfordshire December
2011).
The Engagement
and Development team in Children’s Services have supported
young carers to create three resources to assist other young carers
and professionals in understanding and raising awareness of the
needs of young carers.
- Undercover Heroes: Code
Name Young Carer, film (20 minutes running time)
- Undercover Heroes: Code
Name Young Carer, resource pack (available as a free PDF download)
Click
here to view the Undercover Heroes Young Carer
Resource Pack (updated June 2012)
- Time Out
Cards
The Undercover
Heroes film was shown to staff in relevant settings for
children and young people. It is also being shown to children and
young people (in group work, PSHE lessons etc) with the
accompanying resource pack, which is full of information, guidance
and activities aimed at staff and young people.
The Time Out
Card, devised by children and young people, is given to
young carers in school. It supports them to say when they are
finding things difficult in class, to access support from teaching
staff and to summarise their caring role so that they do not have
to “tell the story” each time. These resources can be used
together, as individual resources or as a mix and match option
dependent on need.
SuperKids
forum
The
SuperKids forum coordinated by the Engagement and
Development Team meets once a month bringing together children,
young people and young adults to have a strategic voice within
Bedford Borough Council inputting directly into service
development, Borough wide consultations and meeting with senior
managers and elected members.
In June 2012 as part of
Carers Week, the SuperKids created a display in Borough Hall with
information about being a young carer, letters, poems and contact
details of where to access support. You can view the Young Carers
Poem created by Haleema and Lorna here.
In November 2012,
Astacia, Haleema and Victoria made a short video for Carers Rights
Day which was emailed to all schools, Children’s Services staff and
child and youth practitioners in Bedford Borough raising awareness
of young carers.
For more information
about what the Engagement and Development Team offers for young
carers please contact marianne.wesley@bedford.gov.uk ,
Engagement and Development Officer or call 01234 718388
The Engagement and
Development team offer Young Carers Awareness
Training throughout the year for children, young people
and adults workers or volunteers to increase knowledge and
understanding of the lives of young carers. The training makes use
of the Undercover Heroes DVD and resource pack as well as looking
at legislation, local support and opportunities for young
carers. To find out more information about the training
please contact nickie.healy@bedford.gov.uk in
Learning and Development or call (01234) 228471
In 2011, Carers
in Bedfordshire were awarded a contract to provide support
to carers of all ages. You can contact Carers in Beds by phone on
0300 111 1919 or web http://www.carersinbeds.org.uk/
For Young Carers this
includes
- Social Clubs
- Trips and
activities
- Young Carers out of
hours line on 07531 915190 (4.30 – 6pm Mon – Fri, 11am – 5pm at
weekends)
- Out of Hours advice
line
- Family time at the
Carers Café
- Emotional and practical
support
- Informal one to one
sessions
- Help with dealing with
difficulties
- Newsletter for Young
Carers
click here for the December 2012 issue!
Carers in Bedfordshire
also coordinate Young Carers Breaks on behalf of
NHS Bedfordshire, where Young Carers under the age of 18 can apply
for a grant of up to £200 to go towards a service that will benefit
and enhance their wellbeing. You can view the poster
here and
the cirteria here.
You can apply using the application form here.The
grant can be used flexibly to help fund something that the young
carer feels will improve their health or wellbeing such as:
- Fun Activities
- A day trip
- Taking up a hobby
- Joining a club
- A school trip
- Training
- Or anything that you feel will improve your health or
wellbeing
The Young Carers Breaks
grant cannot be used for something that would normally be
funded by health or social care. To find out more go to
http://www.carersinbeds.co.uk
or contact the Young Carers Breaks Co-ordinator
: Mandy Lee on phone: 0300
111 1919 Mobile: 07772 231234 or
Email: mandy.lee@carersinbeds.org.uk
Welcome to
the new edition of the Purple
News; the magazine designed for young carers by the Children’s
Society project for young carers called “Include”. You can
find out more about the programme at www.childrenssociety.org.uk/youngcarers