A young carer is someone aged between 8 and 18. Young carers may care for a parent, sibling or relative who has a disability, mental
 health condition, long-term illness, or drug or alcohol addiction.

 

A Young Carers Service will continue to be provided:

• in the Southern, South Eastern and Belfast Trust areas by Action for Children

Contact  Jennifer Hamilton e-mail : [email protected]

• in Northern and Western Trust areas by Barnardos

Contact Dougie Tyler, e-mail: [email protected]

 

Referrals to the Young Carers service will continue in the usual way and in line with the regional guidance to HSC Trusts which identifies processes for:

• The assessment and identification of Young Carers
• The provision of services to Young Carers
• Young Carers entitlement to a Carer’s Assessment

Both Barnardo’s NI and Action for Children Young Carers services will continue to process referrals to their service in the usual way and will offer 1-2-1 support, assessment and reviews.

All contact currently will be “remote / virtual” in keeping with social distancing advice and mindful that young carers are often at the ‘front’ of a situation where there is someone at home who is very vulnerable. During the current health crisis, the Young Carers’ Services will continue to maximise the use of phone, text, Skype, and any other means which are safe and acceptable to young carers and their families.

 

Useful information for young carers

We have gathered together some information below to help support young carers to understand the current situation surrounding COVID-19 that we hope you will find useful.

For the latest news about Coronavirus for young people, CBBC Newsround - www.bbc.co.uk/newsround#more-stories-2

The charity Young Minds have written a blog about what young people can do if they are feel anxious about Coronavirus - https://youngminds.org.uk/blog/what-to-do-if-you-re-anxious-about-coronavirus/

There is lots of support surrounding young people’s mental health on the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust website. They have free resources which you can download to support your well-being - www.cwmt.org.uk/

There is also a PDF workbook from Mindheart to download and print out, which you can use to colour or write down your thoughts about how you are feeling - www.mindheart.co/descargables