Who to inform if you are or know a young carer
What is a young carer?
A young carer is anybody under the age of 18 who provides care to someone of any age who is:
- disabled
- physically or mentally ill
- frail or elderly
- misusing alcohol or other substances
Young carers can often be described as a ‘hidden' group. This means that professionals, like doctors or teachers are not aware of the support being provided to another person and how this affects the life of the young carer.
Many young carers find caring rewarding and develop different skills through being a young carer. However, it is important that support is given when the caring role starts to affect physical, emotional and mental health, education or training, social life and activities.
If you are a young carer, or you know a young carer and think that the caring role is impacting any of the areas above, please contact the Carers Support Centre on 0117 958 9980. We have also created some articles that can signpost to information and support in each of these areas. Young carers | South Gloucestershire (southglos.gov.uk)
You should also contact the Council’s Access and Response team (ART) on 01454 866000. The Access and Response team will discuss with you how caring affects the young person and what would help to do those things that are important to the person. Our article ‘How families are supported’ explains what support is available from our early help services and how to contact them. If they are caring for a sibling or family member who has a disability and is under the age of 18, the 0 – 18 social care disability team can also talk about their caring role when they work with your family member.
If you are an adult receiving care from a young person, you may be entitled to some support from the Council’s Adult Social Care team. If you would like to speak to somebody about this, please call 01454 868007 or email csodesk@southglos.gov.uk.
Some schools have a young carers lead and some even have peer support groups to support pupils who are young carers. Speak to the carers champion for more information. If you are unsure who that is, speak to the school’s safeguarding lead. Its important that the school is aware of every young carer so that they can look out for safeguarding issues and support them to achieve their goals while understanding the impact caring can have. You can see a list of schools who are signed up to the Young Carers In Schools programme, as well as the name of the young carer lead here: Schools | Carers Support Centre.
It's important the young person’s GP is aware of their caring role. Ask the receptionist how to register as a young carer at the surgery. This can lead to faster appointments and priority for vaccinations. Any professional working with the person receiving care should also be aware a young person is supporting them.
There is no need to worry that your family, or the young carers family will be placed “at risk” if you talk to somebody about the caring role. The people you do tell are there for support.