The Princess Royal Trust for Carers launch new Manual to support Young Carers

The much awaited “Manual for Measures of Caring Activities and Outcomes for Children and Young People” has been launched by The Princess Royal Trust for Carers. The “hands on” manual is intended to provide researchers and practitioners in the field of caring with relevant and accessible tools for the evaluation of caring activities and caring outcomes in young carers. This pioneering and exciting development is a major advance in outcome-based work with young carers and their families.

The tools (or questionnaires) have been generated by a team of experts at The University of Nottingham - Young Carers International Research and Evaluation - and from The Trust’s extensive experience of working with its network of Young Carers services for the past 15 years. The work was funded by Comic Relief as part of a second £1 million programme managed by The Princess Royal Trust for Carers for the development of services for the most vulnerable and hidden young carers. It was a priority of this programme that successful projects include specific outcomes and use academically verified measuring tools.

The “Manual for Measures of Caring Activities and Outcomes for Children and Young People” by Stephen Joseph, Fiona Becker and Saul Becker will be available to download from The Princess Royal Trust for Carers’ web site at: http://www.carers.org/professionals/young-carers/assessments,3063,PP.html

Alex Fox, Director of Policy and Communications at The Princess Royal Trust for Carers said: “We believe that, in an ideal world, no child should have to take on caring roles that are more appropriate for adults. Neither the child nor the cared for person would choose this situation. Sadly, due to low levels of awareness of the issues and patchy support services, this situation is a reality for many children. The partnership with Comic Relief is helping many young carers be children as well as carers. In addition, the development of this tool will reduce the extend of inappropriate or harmful caring responsibilities taken on by children, produce positive outcomes for children and provide useful learning for other organisations considering similar work.”

Professor Saul Becker, Head of the School of Sociology and Social Policy and YCI Director, said: “The outcome measurement tools that we have designed will help to generate reliable hard evidence on how different projects and interventions impact on young carers’ lives, health, well-being and caring responsibilities. We hope that this will be a major advance in future outcome-based work with young carers and their families.

“In addition to the tools being used by projects funded by the Comic Relief Grants programme, we have been contacted by others across the world who are looking to use the tools for research or evaluation purposes, including researchers in South Africa and Australia.”

The Princess Royal Trust Dundee Carers Centre is one of the projects in the Comic Relief Grants programme that have been using the tool. Manager, Lucinda Godfrey said, “The manual has provided support staff with a person centered way of engaging with young carers to enable them to identify their needs. The Young Carers have enjoyed using it and it is proving to be a valuable way to encourage them to talk about how things are for them. Through this process the project can then ensure that they are getting the right support to meet their individual needs.’

Gilly Green, Head of UK Grants, Comic Relief said “The expertise of The Princess Royal Trust for Carers through its network of Young Carers services, combined with the significant work being carried out by the University of Nottingham will make a huge difference to more young carers throughout the UK.”

Over 350 projects and services across the UK are already in contact with around 30,000 young carers. The 2001 census estimated that there are 175,000 young carers in the UK, including 13,000 who spend over 50 hours a week caring for family members. The Princess Royal Trust for Carers believes that the real number is much higher as the work of many young carers is hidden due to the stigma, fear of outside interference, and concern that the family may be split up.

Almost a third of young carers have serious education problems, many fail to attain any GCSEs, they suffer loneliness and isolation, verbal taunts and abuse at school, they get behind with homework and some eventually end up as truants.

For further media information please contact Pamela Knight, The Princess Royal Trust for Carers on 01772 733 157/07836 704224 or email: pknight@carers.org; Lindsay Brooke, Media Relations Manager, University of Nottingham +44(0)115 951 5751 linday.brooke@nottingham.ac.uk; Sophie King, Comic Relief on 020 7820 6942 s.king@comicrelief.org.uk