YOUNG CARERS

Who is a young carer?

A young carer is someone aged 18 and under who helps look after someone in their family, such as a parent or sibling, who has an illness, disability, mental health issue or an addiction.


What might a young carer do?

  • Practical tasks, like cooking, housework and shopping
  • Physical care, such as helping someone out of bed
  • Emotional support, including keeping people safe
  • Personal care, such as helping someone get dressed or helping someone with washing
  • Managing finances
  • Helping to give medicine
  • Helping someone communicate
  • Looking after brothers and sisters

Being a young carer can teach young people many useful skills but can also have a big impact on the things that are important to growing up.


Young carers can struggle with:

  • Not getting time to play or see friends
  • Feeling isolated from other people
  • Missing school or being late
  • Not being able to complete homework
  • Their own mental health
  • Feeling tired because of their caring responsibilities


Crossroads Young Carers

Crossroads runs a Young Carers project for children aged between 8 and 18 that provides fortnightly sessions for young carers so they can have regular breaks away from their caring responsibilities and give them the opportunity to make the most of their childhood. For more information about the project, you can visit the Crossroads website or contact them.


Crossroads

Telephone: 01624 673103

Email: info@crossroadsiom.org

Website: www.crossroadsiom.org

A leaflet can also be found here.


Other support

There are a number of organisations and resources available to support young carers with their caring responsibilities.

 
Mental health support

Talk 

A single point of access for all those under 18 who are looking for support with their mental wellbeing.

The service has a team of professionals who are able to provide therapeutic support, or make a direct referral to CAMHS or other service partners, based on need. Referrals can be made by parents, carers, education or health staff (including GPs) or other professionals for children and young people who require support. Additionally, Talk will accept self-referrals.

Telephone: 01624 679544

Website: https://talk.islelisten.im/


Kooth

Kooth is a free, anonymous, and safe online mental health and emotional wellbeing community for young people, accessible 24/7. It provides text-based counselling, peer support forums, and self-help tools to help with issues like anxiety, depression, and stress

Website: www.kooth.com 


Young Minds

A UK charity that provides young people with the tools to look after their mental health, including young carers. They also provide support to parents who are supporting children with their mental health.

They provide direct support through a parents' helpline, a 24/7 mental health support text service, and online resources aiming to ensure no young person feels alone.

Telephone (Parents Helpline): 0808 802 5544

Textline (Shout): 85258

Website: https://www.youngminds.org.uk/ 


Resources 

Carers Trust - www.carers.org/about-caring/about-young-carers 

NHS - www.nhs.uk/social-care-and-support/support-and-benefits-for-carers/help-for-young-carers 

 
Practical support

Isle of Man Youth Service - https://youth.sch.im