If you’re between 5 and 18 and looking after someone in your family, this page is for you. We’ll help you to work out if you belong to a group of people called Young Carers.
What You Do
Do you spend time doing any of these things for someone in your family?
- Taking them to medical appointments, or the hospital
- Helping them to take their medication
- Helping them to wash themselves, or with personal care
- Doing the shopping / cooking or cleaning
- Helping to look after younger brothers or sisters
- Provide emotional support /cheer them up when they are down
You may do a lot of these things most of the time. Or you may only do one or two of these things occasionally.
If you can say ‘Yes’ to any of these things, you may be a Young Carer.
Who You Help
The person you help might be:
- your parent
- your brother or sister
- your grandparent
- any other family member.
You may have other people in your family helping out as well, or you may be doing it all on your own.
You may feel worried and angry sometimes
If you are looking after somebody, it can sometimes make you feel sad or worried and it may help to talk to somebody about how you feel.
You may feel worried about lots of things such as:
- what will happen if they need me when I am at school?
- when will I find time to do my schoolwork?
- what if they get worse?
- who can I ask for help?
- why can’t I ever just relax and see my friends?
- why do I get sad and angry sometimes?
We can help you to find the answers to all of these questions and any others that you may have.
By joining our family of Young Carers you will be able to meet lots of others who share your experience. You can read about some of them here.
How we can help you
We can meet with you at school/college or somewhere you feel comfortable, and talk to you about your caring role and how it is making you feel.
You can have a mentor, who will meet you every week and help you to work out some of your problems.
The most important thing to remember is that you are not alone…
Events and Activities coming up
This film was produced by the BBC to highlight the life of a Young Carer and how it impacts on the whole family. There are an estimated 120,00 Young Carers aged 5-18 in the UK (The Children’s Society 2024).
If you are a Young Carer or know somebody who may be, please call us on: 020 8366 3677 or email: youngcarers@enfieldcarers.org
