To mark young carer action day on Wednesday 13th March our Young Carer/Young Adult Carer Committee have composed an open ‘Call to Action’ letter they would like your help to share and get people taking about Young Carers.
If you would like further information, to become involved or feel you can support the committee in some way, please do get in touch.
About our Young Carer/Young Adult Carer Committee
The Young Carers (YC) /Young Adult carers (YAC) Committee was formed in August 2023. Originally known as the YC/YAC Board, members decided to change the name to YC/YAC Committee in January 2024. They felt the term ‘Board sounds too formal… plus a committee says what we are doing; we are committed to making change for Young Carers’.
The committee is a group of young people who work with us to further develop our service offer to ensure it is needs led, and relevant to what Young carers and Young Adult Carers in Suffolk want. In addition members of the group feed into change at a national level, via representing the voice of Suffolk’s Young Carers during Young Carers National Voice network meetings.
The committee is chaired by a nominated YC, Millie and the group meet four times a year. The meetings discuss content linked to requests from the service, plus time to agree and plan for any action they wish to develop.
When asked “Why are you part of the YC/YAC Committee?” responses include
‘I want to make a difference to people’s lives because I can empathise with them’
‘I want to put the spotlight on Young Carers as they aren’t shown enough in the media’.
I want to put Young carers out there more’
‘I am interested in the rights of Young Carers’
For Suffolk Family Carers the formation of the committee was a natural progression as the last few years have seen our teams that support younger people increasingly work WITH, rather than for the children and young people registered with us . This work has already included collaborative working on marketing resources, recruitment, respite planning and delivery. We also piloted a YC Peer support role in 2020 and since 2021 have recruited YC ambassadors to work with the YC leads in education settings across Suffolk.
