Young Carers Action Day 2021
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Young Carers Action Day 2021!
This is where you’ll find all the information you need on Young Carers Action Day (YCAD) 2021, that took place on March 16 2021.
Check out our Young Carers Action Day resources for young carers and the professionals who work with them. Check our website and #YoungCarersActionDay on social media for details of YCAD 2022.
What is Young Carers Action Day (YCAD)?
Young Carers Action Day is an annual event, organised by Carers Trust.
It has taken place over the last seven years to raise awareness of young carers and the incredible contribution they make to their families and local communities.
Following feedback from young carers in 2021 we made some changes to YCAD, including the name!
You can find out more below on the changes we made to YCAD.
What’s new about YCAD this year?
Thanks to some really important feedback from young carers, we:
- Have changed the name to Young Carers Action Day and it's now in March, not January.
- Want to amplify the voice of young carers and put them right at the heart of planning for YCAD. So we have created a Steering Group of young/young adult carers.
- Are now including young adult carers, aged 18–25!
What was the theme for YCAD 2021?
We had some great conversations with young/young adult carers. They told us they wanted the day to be about their futures, highlighting the incredible skills they have developed through being a carer – like resilience, time-management and empathy.
These are all important skills, not just for young people moving into higher education - but also for those looking to enter the workplace. What’s more, they are skills highly sought after by employers.
So YCAD 2021 was all about young carers’ futures. The theme was Protect Young Carers' Futures.
What we called for during YCAD 2021?
When we spoke to young/young adult carers they were really clear that YCAD 2021 must be about action and delivering change for young/young adult carers.
This is why we spoke to young/young adult carers, so they could help us develop actions for young/young adult carer groups to use with employers, calling on them to recognise their skills to increase employment opportunities for young/young adult carers.
Carers Trust employees developed policy briefings calling on decision-makers in each UK nation to develop new national Action Plans for children and young people with caring responsibilities – addressing education, employability and health and wellbeing.
We also promoted these key messages in media interviews, highlighting that young/young adult carers have amazing skills and calling on governments to do more so young carers’ skills count.