Young Adult Carer Board Vacancy

We're looking for a young adult carer aged between 18 and 25 to lead the Youth Advisory Panel and take a place on the Carers Trust Board of Trustees.

The Youth Advisory Panel will be led by two young/young adult carers as Co-Chairs. The Young Adult Carer Co-Chair will have a place on the Board and will work closely with the other Co-Chair to make sure what matters most to young carers and young adult carers gets heard and turned into action.

This will be an interim position for the next six to nine months to lead the Youth Advisory Panel in making decisions about how it will work, including what the permanent arrangements will look like.

If you think that you can be part of leading the transformation we want to see within Carers Trust, and the change we want to make in the world, here’s what you need to know.

About You

• You will be a young adult carer aged 18-25 living in the UK, or you will have recent experience of being a young or young adult carer.
• You will feel strongly about fairness and making sure all young/young adult carers have a voice and can get the support they need.
• You will feel confident to speak with other young/young adult carers about the issues that affect them, the things they want and need and the change they want to see.
• You will feel confident to work with Boomers, Gen X and Millennials (the older generations) to represent Gen Z and Gen Alpha carers and tell it like it is for you.
• You will need to be able to make some time to attend a mixture of online and in-person groups and meetings.
• You’ll be ready to raise challenges and bring suggestions to the Panel.
• You will be committed to inclusion and our anti-racist work across Carers Trust.

Experience

You don’t need to have experience of being on a Board or committee to do this role; your experience as a young carer and your enthusiasm for delivering real change are what matters most.  And if the Board Member role isn’t the right fit for you now, there is still a place for you to join the Youth Advisory Panel and get involved in an exciting range of opportunities.

About the support you will get and the time required for this role

We will work with you to understand how and when you do your best work and what you prefer in terms of preparing for meetings, receiving information and telling us your views.

• You will receive formal training and be able to get mentoring from other Carers Trust Board members and staff.
• You’ll get peer support from other young/young adult carers.
• You’ll have the opportunity to attend young carer festivals, residential away weekends with other young carers, and to tell us what else you need to make the most of and flourish in the role.
• You will get expenses paid for and we can help you with talking to your employer and/or college or university to support you to do this role.

In terms of time needed we will work with you to understand your unique situation: how much time you have available, and how we can support you to fulfil the role. We’ll agree the minimum number of meetings you can attend and how many activities you can get involved in so we get the right balance for everyone.

The Board of Trustees meets face-to-face four times every year, usually in London.  These meetings last around half a day with around two hours of prep beforehand. We’ll work with you to understand how you want prepare and do what works best for you.

There are also eight online board meetings a year, usually lasting an hour and with roughly two hours of prep.

We’ll ask you to spend some time with the other members of the Youth Advisory Panel and we think that this will be around six meetings a year, each lasting up to two hours – you will be part of deciding how we do this bit!

Interested? Get in touch by Sunday 18th June

If you’re ready to bring your experience of caring and commitment to achieving real change for young carers and young adult carers, we want to hear from you in the way that suits you best.

• You can record a brief video or voice note about you and why you’re ready for this role, making sure to tell us your name, age, and where you are from. We suggest your video is no more than 3 minutes long. Please send it by Whatsapp to our Youth Involvement Officer, Michael Smart, on  07874 886901. 
• Or you can fill in our short form about you and why you want to be considered for the role. You can find the form at this link: Expression of Interest Form

The deadline for expressions of interest is Sunday 18th June. We will get in touch to confirm we have received your expression of interest and to arrange a call to chat about your interest in the role, and what will happen next.

Questions?

If you need any support with applying or have any questions, please do get in touch by email at involvement@carers.org or you can phone or text us on 07874 886901.