Players of People’s Postcode Lottery support work helping young adult carers into employment
Young adult carers from all over the UK are participating in a paid three-month internship with Carers Trust.
The Carers Trust pilot scheme is designed for young adult carers to help them move successfully into paid employment and learn new skills. The scheme also provides young adult carers with a crucial stepping stone towards achieving their career ambitions.
The five young adult carers are from Scotland, Yorkshire, Bristol and Peterborough and are in their early to mid- twenties. They’ve worked in the policy, fundraising and communications teams gaining valuable work skills and making meaningful contributions to Carers Trust’s work to support unpaid carers.
One of these young adult carers, Megan, aged 22, interns in the communication team. She has cared for her family members from the age of 10 which means she has often found it hard to make time for schoolwork, extracurricular activities and part-time work.
Megan said: “What an amazing opportunity. So far, the Carer Trust pilot scheme has improved my confidence, given me new skills and the chance to make work that matters. Growing up I missed out on countless opportunities due to my caring role because I either didn’t have time or felt too exhausted. Inevitably, this has left gaps in my CV and has put me at a disadvantage in the past when applying for work.
Carers Trust has taken the time to understand me as an individual and what I wanted to achieve by the end of the programme. I have been given the chance to set my own goals, and with all the support and compassion the Carers Trust team have to offer, I am sure I’ll achieved them. I couldn’t be prouder."
Being a carer from a young age can have lifelong consequences. Some simply do not recognise that they are a young carer at all, as they grow up with it, but they can face extra barriers in education and employment. As they have extra duties at home they can struggle with homework deadlines, revision and consequently sometimes get lower exam grades. Young adult carers often prioritise their caring role over choosing a career, making it harder to find the job they want.
Carers Trust’s network of frontline partners support young and young adult carers so they can achieve their potential in education and work.
The internships are a new initiative and Carers Trust will be evaluating the programme to ensure it meets the needs of young adult carers and will be effective in supporting them into employment.
Vicky Morgan, Head of Young Carers and Young Adult Carers at Carers Trust, said:
“We are very impressed with Megan and all the interns who have participated. It has been wonderful to see them learning about working on real projects and getting used to collaborating with colleagues right across Carers Trust. It has also been fascinating to get a younger carer’s perspective on our work to support unpaid carers. We as an organisation benefited greatly from all of our interns’ contributions and wish them all well in their next exciting steps!”
Team members from Peoples Postcode Lottery also got involved with the internship programme, with some staff running a masterclass of top tips on how to get into the film and TV industry which was attended by the interns and young carers.’
Laura Chow, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery said: “Carers usually put the needs of others before their own, meaning unfortunately they can’t always choose the career or job they want. I’m delighted that players are supporting such an important initiative for young adult carers, but also that our team members have been able to share their skills and expertise with them to support them in future employment.”
Young adult carers interested in finding about more can find local support at Carers.org
