Shropshire Young Carers Service
If you're a young person who helps to look after someone you may be a young carer.
A young carer is a young person aged from 5 to 17 years of age who helps to look after (or ‘care’ for) a family member who has a physical disability, mental illness, or alcohol/drug addiction.
They must reside within a Shropshire Council postcode area.
What do they do?
The sort of things a young carer may do are:
- Collecting prescriptions and/or helping to make sure the person they look after takes their medication
- Assisting in looking after younger brothers or sisters
- Cooking meals
- Doing regular housework
- Accompanying the person they help care for to appointments
- Providing emotional support – being there to listen
What sorts of things worry a young carer?
There are around 650 known young carers in Shropshire, but there are probably lots more children and young people who are caring, but just see this as being part of a family.
Helping to look after or ‘care’ for someone can be rewarding, but tiring too. It can affect schoolwork and seeing friends, and knowing who you can speak to is really important.
Young carers may:
- Feel lonely or not be able to join clubs or after school play dates
- Feel tired from having too much to do
- Worry about time to do homework
- Feel worried about fitting everything into the day – caring, school, homework
- Feel they don’t fit in – they feel different to other young people
- Being bullied at school
Young carers tell us they want to be treated like any other child or young person.
What may help?
Connect with others - speak with a teacher or contact the Shropshire Young Carer Support team directly and talk about your concerns. We want to make sure that someone is looking out for you.
Shropshire Young Carer Support
We aim for young carers to have fun, do crafts and games, but also relax with other young people who will relate to their own situation. Our focus is respite and support for young carers. Our staff are friendly and understand the issues young carers face. We want to be someone they can talk to about how they're feeling.
The Shropshire Young Carers service holds monthly young carer groups across the county, and hosts various activities during school holidays. Our dedicated school project officer works with schools in Shropshire to help them to identify and support young carers.
If you think you're a young carer, or know anyone else who may be, contact us and find out how we can help you.
Call 0345 678 9021 during office hours or email youngcarers@shropshire.gov.uk
Leave a message and we'll call you back. School staff, youth groups or any other service that works with children and young people can also contact us on these details.