On the evening of 10th January, I was privileged to be joined online by two Young Carers registered with our service as we attended the Young Carers National Voice Young Carers National Voice — Sheffield Young Carers | Dedicated to helping young carers across Sheffield meeting which brings together Young Carers and their Adviser’s from across the UK.
We want to support Young Carers from Suffolk to be involved in this group to broaden their understanding that the role of the Young Carer is not unique to Suffolk and to share their ideas and experiences with peers whose experiences are completely different, yet similar to their own. It is also useful for us to work with other Young Carer services to share learning and best practise and come together to encourage change on a larger scale. 17 carers attended the session from the following Young Carer services:
- Gloucestershire
- Windsor & Maidenhead
- Worcester
- Birmingham
- Sheffield
- St Helens
The group meet every 8 weeks. Together they campaign for issues they think are important.
Recently the group chose to focus on Young Carers experience in education. Here is Suffolk, we are fortunate to work in partnership with many fantastic education settings who acknowledge the caring role and have worked with our guidance to implement support that the Young Carers want and need. This however is not the experience of all Young Carers across the UK.
This evening the group provided feedback to graphic artist India who is creating an info poster in response to suggestions given by the group on how education staff can best support a Young Carer. Once complete, the resource will be available nationwide for schools and colleges to use.
Feedback from participants at the end of the session was very positive
“It’s great fun whilst doing something important. I will definitely return!”
