Scottish Young Carers Festival

Over three days, we had almost 400 young carers come along to our 15th Scottish Young Carers Festival! There was a packed programme including live magic, bands, inflatables, arts and crafts and a new wellbeing space with yoga and therapets!

The Festival also provides an important space for young carers to share their views and experiences. We had our Young Carer Consultation Zone where young carers shared their experiences on taking a break and the impact this can have on their life. We were also joined by invited guests including local councillors and MSPs who heard directly from young carers across Scotland.  

Louisa, an intern for Carers Trust Scotland, shares her experience of the 2022 Scottish Young Carers Festival.

The LAB caught up with a group of young carers from @CarersTrustScot and @ScoYCSA at their annual festival to hear why it's so important for them to get a short break.

📽 Watch the full film here 👉 https://t.co/RMjuY9u0Jj pic.twitter.com/jWWObdgAtg

— BBC Scotland Learning (@BBCScotLearn) August 19, 2022

We completed a Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) to assess the impact of the Festival on young carers’ human rights and wellbeing in Scotland. Download the CRWIA for Scottish Young Carer Festival 2022.

Media Ambassadors 

In 2022, a group of young carers, known as the Media Ambassadors, created a film around the theme of short breaks for young carers. This films complements the findings from our 2022 Young Carer Consultation Zone.

Despite not being able to have our Scottish Young Carers Festival in its usual format, we listened to young carers to shape what 2021 could bring!  

Check out our Festival webpage to explore over 40 workshops, covering a whole range of topics! You can also learn more about our “Young Carer Voice: Consultation Event” which provided a platform for young carers to have their voices heard by key decision makers.

Media Ambassadors

In 2021, the Media Ambassadors once again took part online! A group of young carers created a short film in 2021 about the issues young carers are experiencing. They participated in training with Media Education and conducted peer led interviews with young carers across Scotland. Their film focuses on themes important to young carers including education, respite and loneliness.

On 7 October, their film launched at the Carers Parliament! The Media Ambassadors filmed a short presentation for this event where they discuss how they found this project and what they hope the film achieves.

"We would really like the film to reach a wide range of individuals, such as health professionals, educational institutions, youth groups, decision makers and young carers themselves. We would really like the film to educate them on the lives of young carers and help them better understand what support is needed to help young carers reach their full potential." Megan Martin, Media Ambassador.

We encourage everyone to watch the film to hear directly from young carers.

Our Scottish Young Carers Festival was sadly cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But we wanted to make sure that young carers were still able to connect with one another and have fun! Working with Scottish Government, young carers and their services, we held our first ever online Festival, “Best of the Fest!”.

On Wednesday 5 August to Friday 7 August, we had dozens of live activities and events including yoga, magic shows, cool creatures, circus tutorials and live music!

Our traditional marketplace at the Festival, which invites organisations to promote their services and resources to young carers was also online in 2020! Organisations such as Young Scot, the Scottish Youth Parliament and Social Security Scotland hosted live workshops for young carers and youth workers to find out more about the opportunities available.

Media Ambassadors

In 2020, a group of young adult carers, aged 16 – 22, formed the Media Ambassador Team. In the absence of our Scottish Young Carers Festival, the Group focused on who young carers are, what their experiences of lockdown in 2020 have been and shared what support young carers need going forward. They captured content remotely and carried out online interviews for the film. 

Read Sam’s experience as a Media Ambassador