Who are Young Carers?
What exactly is a 'young carer'? It is any young person under the age of 19 who looks after a family member who is ill or disabled.
A Young Carer may help their brother in to his wheelchair, or help their Mum get into and out of the shower. They may give their Nan her medicine, or help their Uncle calm down if he's had too much to drink.
There are approximately 800 Young Carers in Milton Keynes. This number includes all young people from 5 to 19 who provide care for anything from 1 hour to over 50 hours per week. Young Carers help their families with a whole range of problems such as:
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Depression
- Epilepsy
- Autism
- Cancer
- Substance misuse
- Diabetes
- Mobilisation problems
- Mental Health Issues
Sometimes, Young Carers miss out on important things like school, sports, hobbies and socialising because they are so busy helping out. This is where 'Young Carers Milton Keynes' comes in! They want to make sure that Young Carers are able to enjoy being young, and achieve all the things that they want to, so they run a service especially for young people.
Their services include:
- Social and support clubs where Young Carers get to meet other young people like themselves
- Activities and outings e.g. bowling, drama, cinema trips, ice-skating, etc
- A newsletter every 3 months
- One-to-one support if Young Carers need someone to talk to
- A Summer family BBQ
- A Christmas party
- Short breaks
- Advice and Information
- Home visits
- A drop-in centre on a Thursday afternoon
- A holiday playscheme for under 15s
How it all works:
Young Carers Milton Keynes try and offer as many services as possible to all Young Carers they work with however they are a charity with limited funds and resources so find that it is not possible to offer every service to everyone.
When a Young Carer is referred to Young Carers Milton Keynes from a professional agency they will go and visit that Young Carer and carry out an assessment. This helps them to understand more about the caring role and get to know the young person involved. They use the information to help them tailor make a service for each individual Young Carer in respect of their needs. This means that even sibling Young Carers may not necessarily receive the same level of service as their caring roles may be very different.
If you would like to know more about their service ask your Social Worker, Teacher, GP, Connexions Advisor or support worker to make a referral.
Carers Milton Keynes
The David Baxter Centre (ground floor middle YMCA block)
63 North Seventh Street
Central Milton Keynes
01908 231703