Young Carers Alliance Resources
General Election 2024
Following the UK General Election on Thursday 4th July, Carers Trust are asking young carers and young adult carers to write their messages to the new Government - what do you want them to know/do in relation to young carers? A mesage to the new Prime Minister
These can be printed, completed and then e-mailed back to youngcarersalliance@carers.org or they can be posted to Carers Trust (e-mail us for the address). Alternatively, there is a quick online form where messages can be left
Information and support for young carers
All of the below are UK-wide unless they state otherwise.
Find your local young carers service – Find out what support is available for young carers in your local area.
Support for families of disabled children. Information for parents. Helpline and workshops for parents. Occasional activities/trips for families and an active Facebook page.
Grants for families of disabled or seriously ill children.
Over The Wall is a UK based charity for children with serious illness and disabilities, and their families, to discover a world of mischief and magic. A place where they can be brave and have fun with others. These amazing places are physical – in residential camps and also available online – with Camp in the Cloud and Camp365. And what’s more, it’s all free!
Sense run virtual book clubs, games nights and online wellbeing sessions. They also run online workshops on different topics for young people and their parents.
Sidekick is an anonymous and confidential text helpline service for young carers aged 13-18 run by Action for Children.
They are a charity for brothers and sisters of disabled children and adults. They have information for young siblings but also run online workshops for siblings.
A free app designed with young carers which has information and self-care tips for young carers. Young carers/parents/professionals do not need to register or provide any information to access it.
Awareness-raising/policy
- "Voices of youngest young carers" - An introduction to the Young Carers illustration project:
English version
Japanese version - Staffordshire University animation about needs of young adult carers in higher education
- "No Wrong Doors - Working together to support Young Carers and families" Template Memorandum of Understanding
- Care Act and Whole-Family Approaches Guidance
- ‘Who Am I?’ Young Carers poem and animation – Sheffield Young Carers (You Tube)
- Wirral Young Carers – ‘No Wrong Door’ video
- Lung Theatre: Amplify project: graphic novels: Speak to Me (Made by Dermot Daly, Tessie Orange-Turner and Elorm) and On the Inside (Made by Gitika Buttoo, Naureen Hafeez, Naila, Hussain, K.A & Darim).
- Barnardo’s Action with Young Carers Liverpool:
Barnardo’s Action with Young Carers – Being a young carer
Barnardo’s Action with Young Carers – You Can Help
Barnardo’s | Young Carers | #LifeStory – Laura – YouTube
Barnardo’s | Young Carers | #LifeStory – Jenny – YouTube
Barnardo’s | Young Carers | #LifeStory – Caitlin – YouTube
Barnardo’s | Young Carers in Northern Ireland talk about the support they receive – YouTube
- Young Carers added to the schools’ census:
Examples of Young Carer Policies and models of support [PDF, 486kB]
Young Carers Checklist for schools [PDF, 74kB]
- Young Carers’ Rights – Making Them Real – document created by Young Carers National Voice (YCNV).
- James’ story – Video around young carers and hospital discharge.
- Support Not Sympathy – Manchester Young Carers – YouTube – Young carer music video produced with young carers from Manchester Young Carers.
- Top tips for GPs – Produced by NHS England Health Champions.
- Top tips for mental health professionals [PDF, 644kB] – Produced by members of Young Carers National Voice Network (YCNV).
- Young Carers Animation – Aimed at Key Stage One Pupils (awareness-raising resource pack also available through Caring Together).
- All resources – Carers Trust –Carers Trust offers a wide range of resources and information for anyone who works with carers – this includes a Digital Education Hub for staff working in schools created by Carers Trust Scotland.
- Carers in Beds took part in a TV piece around young carers which is available on their Facebook page.
- Quick guide: Setting up a group for young carers in your school [PD, 163kbB) – Produced by West Sussex Young Carers and West Sussex County Council.
- Young Carers in School Poster [PDF, 446kB) – Produced by West Sussex Young Carers and West Sussex County Council.
Practice
- Bangor University have created iSupport for Young People - an online resource to provide information and tips on caring for a family member with dementia.
- AMI-Quebec and have created a magazine (Kare) to help identify and provide information for young carers
- Newcastle Carers have produced an animation about a young carer who is a refugee. They have also created a film about how they worked with young carers to create the animation.
- 'Moving Up' - A resource produced by Imago to support young carers with moving up to secondary school.
- Imago have produced two resources to help support conversations with parents:
- A guide to initiating conversations about young carers with parents
- A parent/guardian's guide to understanding why their child may be eligible for support as a Young Carer - Mummy is poorly: A children's story by Zoe Robinson from NHS Cumbria, Northumberland Tyne and Wear, NHS Foundation Trust.
- Explaining why a parent is in hospital: A resource giving children and young people clear information around parental mental illness. Produced by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust working with Our Time charity.
- Young Carers book list – a list of books based around young carers and includes bereavement – compiled by South Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership.
- Young Carers book list – a list of books featuring young carers and compiled by the Young Carers Alliance.
- Marie Curie – 10 top tips to help parents with life-limiting illness have conversations with their children.
- Siblings Australia e-book – e-book produced by Siblings Australia aimed at siblings aged 4-7 years old and their parents.
- Suggested wording for mental health referral forms [PDF, 138kB] – Produced by members of Young Carers National Voice Network (YCNV).
- Together Project – This was a project across Germany, Italy, Greece and UK focusing on a whole-family approach to supporting young carers. They have produced resources for awareness-raising and practice which are free to access.
- Young Carers Sports – An Expanding Agenda: An update by John Bangs OBE, Independent Carers Policy Adviser [PDF, 228kB]
- Football and Young Carers: A discussion paper by John Bangs OBE, Independent Carers Policy Adviser [PDF, 1MB]
- Young Carers Emergency Plan - A template young carers emergency plan created by Caring Together with young carers
Research and surveys
- Supporting young carers from hidden and seldom heard groups: A literature review – The Children’s Society
- Out of sight, out of mind – Ensuring the needs of children of parents with a mental illness are not forgotten in the Mental Health Bill – Our Time for children of parents with a mental illness – 2022
- Sociodemographic characteristics associated with parenthood amongst patients with a psychotic diagnosis: a cross sectional study using patient clinical records – Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology – Radley, Barlow and Johns – March 2022.
- The Needs and Experiences of Parents with Psychosis: A Qualitative Interview Study – Journal of Family and Child Studies – Radley, Barlow and Johns.
- A Scoping Review of Interventions Designed to Support Parents With Mental Illness That Would Be Appropriate for Parents With Psychosis – frontiers in Psychiatry – Radley, Sivarajah, Moltrecht, Klampe, Hudson, Delahay, Barlow and Johns.
- Mental health professionals’ experiences of working with parents with psychosis and their families: a qualitative study – BMC Health Services – Radley, Barlow and Johns.
- Parenting interventions for people with schizophrenia or related serious mental illness (Review) – Cochrane Library – Radley, Grant, Barlow and Johns.
- The mental and physical health of young carers: A systematic review – Research department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London – August 2022.
- Our Time – Breaking the cycle – The economic cost of poor parental mental health in association with Jon Franklin – May 2022.
- Open University – Carer Research and Knowledge Exchange Network – A free access knowledge exchange resource for all those across the globe who require any form of carer-related knowledge.
- International Journal of Care and Caring – Cross-national study of adolescent young carers aged 15–17 in six European countries (conducted in the framework of the ME-WE project) – 5 April 2022:
News story – Study shows three in 10 adolescent young carers in the UK think about self-harming.
- Children’s Commissioner – The Big Ask Voices: Shining a light on young carers – March 2022 – childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/2022/03/16/the-big-ask-voices-shining-a-light-on-young-carers/.
- Carers Trust – Carers Trust survey identifies steep rise in caring hours for young carers – March 2022.
Full report on the Carers Trust survey It’s harder than anyone understands [PDF, 9.5MB].
- Caring Together – Snapshot survey of young carers around identification and support – February 2022 –
Policy briefing document – From caring to support – we still need to close the gap for young carers [PDF 158kB]
Overview of findings presentation – Caring Together Young Carers snapshot poll – Feb 2022 [PDF, 190kB]
News story – Members of House of Lords ‘lost in admiration’ of young carers and determined to bring about change
- BBC News – Young carers: Thousands of children left unsupported – Published 13 November 2021 – BBC News research shows scale of young carers missing out on support.
- Caring Together – Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on young carers and their futures revealed – caringtogether.org/news/impact-of-covid-19-pandemic-ycad – 15 March 2021.
- University of East Anglia – Study by the University of East Anglia reveals impact of COVID-19 on young carers – 24 June 2020 – caringtogether.org/news/study-by-uea