Young carers to receive more support than ever before

 The government has tabled an amendment to the Children and Families Bill to help improve services for young carers.

Children and young people who care for family members are to benefit from a full assessment of their support needs so they receive help and assistance to experience the same opportunities as their friends.

Full news release on Gov.uk

The Co-operative hits £2.5m milestone for charity of the year... Fun delivering funds for Young Carers

There are now an estimated 500,000 14-25 year-olds in the UK who care for loved ones who are ill, frail, disabled or have mental health or addiction problems and cannot cope without their support – a growing issue described as a "ticking time bomb".

Forming part of the Co-operative's commitment to Inspiring Young People, it aims to raise £5m for Carers Trust during 2013 and has seen colleagues cycle from Lands End to John O'Groats, tackle the three peaks challenge, abseil down Manchester's near 400ft CIS Tower, hold charity balls, organise coffee mornings and host a giant picnic - all raising much needed money to provide desperately needed breaks, information, advice, support and services for unpaid young adult carers facing the challenges of caring.

Full Article on Guardian Social Enterprise

SURVEY: Are you aged 24 or under and caring for a relative with dementia?

Are you a young carer caring/providing support for a family member with dementia?

Would you like to take part in a Student Nurse’s research project?

IF YES

Please find questionnaire on

www.survey.bris.ac.uk/nottingham/youngcarers

(takes 5-10 minutes to complete!)

It does not matter what kind of care/support you provide or how often,

 I am interested in your caring role and experiences!

For more information contact:

Emma Thompson

ntyet@nottingham.ac.uk

Children are picking up the caring roles the state has abandoned

More of our children are caring for us than ever. The challenges that they face are shown in sharp relief by research published on Thursday by the Children's Society. Post-school they are twice as likely to be not in education or employment. One in 12 are caring for someone more than 15 hours per week. Around one in 20 misses school because of caring. These young people often say they've been bullied or have developed their own physical and emotional health problems.

The scale of the issue is huge. The 2011 census shows 178,000 young people under 18 looking after a friend or family member. This isn't the whole picture – we know far more go unidentified. When filling in the census, many parents simply don't recognise or want to say that their child is caring for them. BBC research in 2010 put the number at more like 700,000 in reality at that time.

Full Article on Guardian 

Young carers 'see education and job prospects damaged'

Children caring for a relative could have their education and job prospects permanently damaged, a charity warns.

The Children's Society says one in 12 young carers in England spend more than 15 hours a week caring for a parent or sibling, and one in 20 miss school.

Its new report says that young carers are 50% more likely to have special educational needs or an illness.

Full Article on BBC News