Empowering Unpaid Carers
In the heart of Kent, there exists a silent yet significant group of individuals whose dedication and sacrifice often go unnoticed—the unpaid carers.
Our Young Carers Service provides crucial support to individuals under 18 who care for family members facing disabilities, illnesses, mental health conditions, or substance abuse challenges.
We work closely with schools to ensure they understand the young carer's role at home. This includes delivering assemblies, providing staff training, and attending relevant meetings to advocate for the young carer's needs.
Regular group nights provide Young Carers with opportunities to socialise, make new friends and have time away from their caring role. Activities include resilience building, healthy eating activities, football, arts and crafts, board games, and Nintendo Wii. It's a non-judgemental space where they can be themselves. Refreshments are provided for a comfortable experience.
During school holidays, we provide activity days for our young carers. The activity days give the young carer respite from their caring role and an opportunity to experience new activities.
We offer advice and guidance for families in relation to the young carers caring role.
We offer targeted emotional support alongside respite care, with mental health workshops and well-being sessions led by a trained counsellor. We can also refer individuals to one-to-one counselling sessions when needed. Our open-door policy ensures that anyone we support can always find a listening ear.
We offer a variety of workshops aimed at enhancing skills and confidence, delivered by both external organisations and our dedicated volunteers. These workshops cover a diverse range of topics, including First Aid training, healthy eating, Mental Health Awareness, resilience training, sports skills such as dodgeball and creative activities such as bird box making and pebble painting. Our goal is to provide our Young Carers with engaging experiences that foster personal growth and enjoyment.
Our one-to-one support addresses the evolving needs of Young Carers, tackling issues such as confidence building, self-esteem, and facilitating access to specialist services. Additionally, in times of crisis, we offer our Young Carers one-to-one sessions with a member of our team, to enhance their well-being and give the Young Carer time away from their caring role in a non-judgemental environment.
If you need assistance with welfare benefits, Educational Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), finances, mental health concerns, domestic abuse, housing, or any other issues, we can connect you with the appropriate organisations for professional support. Our open-door policy ensures that we're always here to help and support you.
Meet the team behind the service
Young Carers Project Manager
Young Carers Project Worker
Young Carers Project Worker
A young carer is someone under 18 who cares for a family member with a disability, illness, mental health condition, or substance abuse issue.
Young carers help with cooking, housework, shopping, physical care, emotional support, personal care, managing finances, medication assistance, and communication.
We provide one-to-one support, group activities, holiday outings, emotional support, family assistance, skills workshops, school liaison, and information and guidance.
Yes, we liaise with schools to ensure they understand your caring role and provide necessary support. We also offer assemblies and staff training to raise awareness.
Group nights offer various activities like sports, arts and crafts, board games, video games, and socialising. It's a chance to have fun and relax.
These outings provide a break from caregiving, offering relaxation and fun. They include summer trips to PGL and the Young Carers Festival.
Workshops cover topics like first aid, mental health awareness, sports, arts, and crafts, and various hobbies to build confidence and skills.
We provide advice on welfare benefits, EHCPs, mental health, domestic abuse, housing, and more, and can signpost to appropriate organisations for professional support.
We produce a newsletter several times a year informing families about recent activities the Young Carers have been involved with and can signposting families to relevant services for additional support.
Read about what others are saying about us and our services
In the heart of Kent, there exists a silent yet significant group of individuals whose dedication and sacrifice often go unnoticed—the unpaid carers.