Young Carers Action Day 2023
What is Young Carers Action Day 2023?
Formally known as Young Carers Awareness Day, Young Carers Action Day 2023 is an annual nationwide event designed to raise awareness and support for young carers. Organised by the Carers Trust, the day is dedicated to recognising the incredible efforts of young carers, who provide care and support to their loved ones with disabilities, illnesses, or other special needs.
Young Carers Action Day 2023 will take place on March 15, and as ever, one of its main objectives is to raise awareness about the sacrifices young carers make. Many young carers struggle to balance their caregiving responsibilities with their education, work, and social life. They often face stigma, isolation, and lack of support, which can affect their mental and physical health.
Young Carers Action Day aims to highlight these challenges and encourage people to take action to support young carers. It’s an opportunity to educate people about the importance of caregiving and its impact on young carers' lives. It’s also a chance to celebrate the resilience and strength of young carers and to recognise their contributions to their families and communities.
What is the theme of Young Carers Action Day 2023?
The theme of Young Carers Action Day 2023 is "Make Time for Young Carers”, and is designed to highlight the amount of their own time that young carers themselves give up for others.
Young carers often have to juggle their caregiving responsibilities with school, work, and other activities, which can be overwhelming and isolating. This year's theme encourages us to make time to support young carers by listening to their needs, providing them with resources and support, and creating opportunities for them to connect with others.
On their website, the Carers Trust have a list of suggestions made by young carers for ways that schools and organisations can better help them look after their mental wellbeing, including better access to counselling and financial support.
How can we offer support to young carers?
The theme of Young Carers Action Day 2023 emphasises the importance of listening to young carers and engaging them in conversations in order to better understand the pressures they face and the needs they have.
In an effort to help teachers, health professionals and anybody else in direct contact with young carers, the Carers Trust have released a collection of free resources in the form of a campaign pack. Available for immediate download, this campaign pack contains draft letters and a draft notion for councils, plus further information on the event and helping to promoting it online.
School Policy to Support Young Carers
Given that feedback from young carers themselves has indicated the need for greater understanding and support, it’s vital that schools can produce and follow policies developed with young carers in mind.
That’s why we’ve produced a policy template created to help ensure that schools provide support for young carers whose lives are affected by the role they play in looking after a parent or another family member. This template is designed to provide schools with the building blocks to drive meaningful change and meet the unique needs of young carers in their provision.
Starting conversations about mental health
Providing children with the tools and confidence to openly discuss mental health, while providing non-judgemental environments to do this in, are vital to their health and emotional education. The importance of opening channels of conversation whereby students can express their feelings is always important, but especially so if they are a young carer.
Our webinar, ‘Start a Conversation about Mental Health with Children’ is available for nursery, primary and secondary settings, and it’s never too early or too late to help children with their emotional literacy.
This webinar offers practical guidance to mental health leads in schools around the language to use with young people for encouraging open conversations around mental health and wellbeing, which in turn will allow for planning and action based on the needs of the school.