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Our Safeguarding team is always happy to take calls and advise on concerns regarding both young people, children and adults. If you are concerned or want support, advice and supervision, please contact the following.

Safeguarding Children:

Email - safeguardingchildren@southernhealth@nhs.uk

Telephone - 02392 372780

Safeguarding Adults:

Safeguarding Adults Support and Advice

Line (SASAL)

Email - adultsafeguarding@southernhealth.nhs.uk

Telephone - 0300 003 0349

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What do we know about being a young carer?

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What do we know about being a young carer?

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This website from the children's society expands on what a young carer is.

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There are probably more young carers out there than you think. They take on extra responsibilities, like dressing the person they look after, cooking, cleaning, shopping, collecting prescriptions. It's a lot to take on as a child.

Understanding the reality of being a young carer can help ensure they get the support they need.

How many Young Carers are there?

There are lots of different estimates of how many young carers there are. The 2021 ONS census reported that there are around 120,000 young carers aged 5-18 in England, while the school census in 2023 suggested that there were 39,000 'known' young carers in the country. Meanwhile, a 2018 BBC survey found that there were as many as 820,000 young carers aged 11-15.

One thing is for certain: There are clearly a significant number of young people across the country with caring responsibilities, and it's important that every one of them is getting the support they need.

What rights do young carers have?

The Children and Families Act 2014, and the Care Act 2014, both significantly strengthened young carers' rights. Local authorities have a duty to offer all young carers an assessment of need - no matter how old they are, who they look after, how many hours they provide support for, and why they care.

Young Adult Carers are also entitled to a transition assessment before they turn 18. This ensures that they have the support they need as they begin their adult life.

You can learn more about the legislation and guidance for young carers here.

What can be the impacts of being a young carer?

Having caring responsibilities can be really difficult for some young people. Our research shows that young carers can feel stressed or anxious, miss school, have limited time to spend with their friends, and feel they have to limit their plans for their own futures.

At the same time, many of the young carers we have worked with and spoken to for our research say that being a young carer can be positive, too. They might value the closeness they have with the person they care for, and develop resilience through meeting the challenges they have experienced.

References

There's nobody, is there | The Children's Society

Unpaid care by age, sex and deprivation, England and Wales | ONS

Schools, pupils and their characteristics | Department for Education

Young carers in England: Findings from the 2018 BBC survey on the prevalence and nature of caring among young people | Joseph, S, Kendall, C, Toher, D, Sempik, J, Holland, J, and Becker, S.

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What do we know about being a young carer?

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Did you know there are over 800,000 young carers in the UK? And probably many more children who don't even realise they're carers.

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Young carers can be separated by age and there is a category called young adult carers. This webpage from the Carers Trust cover this.

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Young adult carers are young people aged 16-25 who care, unpaid, for a family member or friend with an illness or disability, mental health condition or an addiction.

How many young adult carers are there?

There are at least 376,000 young adult carers in the UK.

They are likely to be in every school, college, university and workplace.

What might a young adult carer do?

Practical tasks, such as cooking, housework and shopping.

Physical care, such as helping someone out of bed.

Emotional support, such as talking or listening to someone who is distressed.

Personal care, such as helping someone dress or go to the toilet.

Managing the family budget and collecting prescriptions.

Helping to give someone their medication.

Helping someone communicate.

Looking after brothers and sisters.

Being a young adult carer can have a big impact on the things that are important to growing up

It can affect a young person's health, social life and self confidence - over 45% reported a mental health problem.

Many struggle to manage their education, working life and caring role which can cause pressure and stress.

Recent research on young adult carers who were no longer in education showed their highest qualifications were GCSEs grade D-G.

29% had dropped out of college/university because of their caring role. This is four times greater than the national average for degree courses.

But young people can learn lots of useful skills by being a young adult carer.

How we support young adult carers

Carers Trust helps young adult carers to cope with their caring role through specialised services across the UK.

These services are delivered by Carers Trust Network Partners, which are independent charities offering young adult carers the chance to be young people free from their caring responsibilities through trusted practical and emotional support and activities. Find your local carer service.

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Young adult carers are young people aged 16-25 who care, unpaid, for a family member or friend with an illness or disability, mental health condition or an addiction. How many young adult carers are there? There are at least 376,000 young adult carers in the UK.

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The first and simplest thing that we can do is to listen to young carers. Young carers often say that they are ignored and excluded from the healthcare conversations about the person they care for. When our team went to meet a local young carers group, this was the first tip they highlighted for healthcare professionals.

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We should be involving all carers and families within patients/ service users care and young carers are no exception. Young carers will know the person they care for very well and will know their needs and the realities of their condition. As an example, if they are supporting with medication, they need to know how this should be administered.

This fits in with the principles of Triangle of Care.

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A young carer is anyone under the age of 18 who takes on caring responsibilities for another person. There is also a category of young adult carers, which ranges from 18 to 25. The person they care for could be a parent/ step-parent, sibling(s), grandparents or another family member. They have caring responsibilities due to their family member with a health condition or needing additional support.

This could be one of the following examples:

Mental health condition

Long term condition

Chronic illness

Physical disability

Learning disability

Substance and/ or alcohol issues

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What type of support could a young carer be providing?

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What type of support could a young carer be providing?

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Caring duties for the young person may include but are not limited to: shopping, cooking, cleaning, doing other household chores, providing childcare for their siblings, medication management, emotional support and personal care.

Research (reference linked) has shown that 1 in 5 young people are young carers and have additional responsibilities at home in comparison to their peers.

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Young carers take on a lot of adult responsibilities. In this blog post, we look at what it means to be a young carer, how the impact can shape a childhood and what you can do to help.

A young carer is someone 18 years old or under who helps look after a relative with a disability, illness, mental health condition, or drug or alcohol problem.

Some children begin giving care from a very young age, and others become carers overnight.

How many young carers are there in the UK?

The responsibility of a young carer is wide and varied. It can include:

Practical tasks, such as cooking, housework and shopping.

Physical care, like helping someone out of bed.

Emotional support, including talking to someone who is distressed.

Personal care, such as helping someone dress.

Managing the family budget and collecting prescriptions.

Helping to give medicine.

Helping someone communicate.

Looking after brothers and sisters.

What impact does being a young carer have?

Caring for someone can be very isolating, worrying and stressful. For young carers, this can negatively impact their experience in education. Over a quarter of young carers aged 11-15 regularly miss school. This can have a lasting effect on their life chances.

One in three young carers said that their caring role makes them feel stressed. Research also shows that 23% of young carers in the UK said that their caring role had stopped them making friends.

Another problem for young carers is recognising themselves as young carers. It's usually only when they reach secondary school that they realise their home life is different from their friends'.

More recently, new research by Action for Children and Carers Trust found that eight out of ten young carers feel lonely during summer holidays. The research also highlighted that over a third of young carers do not look forward to summer.

What support does Action for Children provide young carers?

At Action for Children we do our best to support young carers. We want to make sure they have happy and safe childhoods.

We help nearly 3,700 children and young people who are young carers across the UK, giving them advice and respite through short breaks, activities and the chance to connect with other young people like them.

We offer practical and emotional support to ensure they are able to enjoy their childhood.

We understand being a young carer can be very hard. That's why we're here to make things a little easier. We provide them with a chance to learn and have fun, helping them balance their caring responsibilities with being a child.

Sidekick is an anonymous and confidential text service for young carers. It offers a chance for young carers to talk, have their questions answered or chat about worries and concerns. Young carers can text the service at any time and the team will find the answer and send a reply within 24 hours.

With many hidden young carers across the UK, Sidekick is how Action for Children is bridging the gap. The service is open to young carers across the UK - providing support beyond our existing services.

Text 07888 868 059 or visit online at sidekick.actionforchildren.org.uk
The work young carers do deserve proper recognition and support. Young carer respite services can be a lifeline, but the support currently available just isn't enough to reach all of them in the right way.

Give young carers a childhood

Access to family help and breaks makes a real difference to the children we help.

Help young carers

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Young carers: who are they and why do they need support?

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Young carers take on a lot of adult responsibilities. In this blog post, we look at what it means to be a young carer. How does this shape their childhood? What impact does it have and how can you help?

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A whole family approach allows young carers and those they care for to all be supported. This means that if you are working with a service user, you should be considering the wider family picture. If someone is under our one of our community mental health teams (CMHT), as an example, and they have children in the household, it is likely that there may be young carers within this household.

When young carers have a carers assessment, it is the council’s responsibility to also take a whole family approach, so this duty extends beyond healthcare into local authorities.

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Everyone at our organisation has a responsibility and commitment to carers, as established by our carers strategy and dedication to the Triangle of Care Accreditation.

However, we recognise that it may not always be appropriate for our staff to directly provide support to young carers (e.g., some of our carers groups may not be the best setting for young carers based on how these are run and who attends). But, this should not be a barrier to supporting and signposting young carers. This toolkit will cover who you can signpost and refer to for young carers, plus where our staff can get support if they are unsure what level of support to provide.

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This video was coproduced with young carers and health services to hear what support they want from us. The group composed this song and it is all about listening to young carers!

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Carers Trust UK have established a young carers covenant which organisations can sign up to and pledge their commitment to better working with and supporting young carers. This was co-produced with many young carers about what young carers and want professionals to be professionally curious around and explore with them what young carers want professionals to know.

As a Trust, we have signed up to covenant and are committed to improving the experiences and support for young carers.

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Carers Trust also has a place where anyone can find out what support is available in the local area. However, we cannot expect young carers to have the time and capacity to research all of this themselves, and this toolkit has a list of helpful resources for young carers in the appendix.

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Carers Trust is a major charity for, with and about carers.

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The primary focus of this is that young carers and young adult carers should be recognised and listened to, and there should be consideration given of the impact upon the Child / young person of a caring role and if the caring roles are excessive, inappropriate or have a potential negative impact on their wellbeing and future(s).

If this is the case supervision should be sought and consideration should be made for either

A referral to Children's services (to not only raise your safeguarding concerns) but for the child /young carer to have the opportunity of a carers assessment.

Equally a Adult safeguarding referral my be indicated to request an Social care needs assessment which may provide additional support for the young carer and relative.

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Each year, the Carers Trust have a young carers action day in March. They encourage as many organisations and communities to get involved as possible. Head to the link to find out more.

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Young Carers Action Day is an annual event that takes place in mid-March, this year it's taking place on Wednesday 13th March. The day is organised and led by Carers Trust, and we encourage as many organisations, communities and individuals as possible to take part in the day by taking action, supporting and raising awareness of young carers.

Young carers face a huge array of challenges as a result of their caring role. The Carers Trust annual young carer survey repeatedly shows many young carers are disadvantaged across multiple aspects of their lives, including mental and physical health, finances, education and employment.

Young Carers Action Day provides an opportunity for everyone to call for better support for young carers and young adult carers, and to bring about change.

Anyone can support Young Carers Action Day by posting on social media using #YoungCarersActionDay.
If you're a young carer and would like to get involved in Young Carers Action Day we would like to hear from you. Please email: youngcarers@carers.org.
Young Carers Action Day 2024

Young Carers Action Day 2024 will be Wednesday 13th March.

This year's theme is fair futures for young carers. The day will focus on building a more equal future for young carers and removing barriers that many of their peers do not face. Find out more about Young Carers Action Day 2024.

The Young Carers Action Day 2024 resources are now available to download! Use our posters and campaign resources to play your part in the big on Wednesday 13 March 2024. Your voice and support will help influence change!
ACCESS RESOURCES
Previous Young Carers Action Days

Read about the discussion themes, findings and changes that took place.
Young Carers Action Day 2023 Young Carers Action Day 2022 Young Carers Action Day 2021

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Young Carers Action Day is an annual event that takes place in mid-March, this year it's taking place on Wednesday 13th March. The day is organised and led by Carers Trust, and we encourage as many organisations, communities and individuals as possible to take part in the day by taking action, supporting and raising awareness of young carers.

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All carers have rights, including young carers. Carers Trust have a clear and simple guide for what rights young carers have. It may be that young carers identified are unaware that they are a young carer and have rights. We can support them by making them aware of their rights.

Young carers can ask for a carers assessment from the council if they have not been offered one before. We can help by supporting and signposting young carers to the relevant council webpages which will have more information.

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Additional considerations for a young carer should be: 

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Additional considerations for a young carer should be: 

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Are they home educated?

Is there domestic abuse within the home?

Is there any known vulnerability.

Are they exposed to anyone within the family home who may deliberately self-harm; such as a member of the family taking an overdose – the young carer having to contact emergency services.

Staff should be encouraged to use professional curiosity and exploration.

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Day in My Life Tools provide a reference point to assist professionals thinking when exploring neglect with children and their families/carers. Each tool reflects a different group of children and young people and identifies particular issues professionals may want to consider. Tools do not need to be completed in their entirety; they can be used to guide conversations, contribute to assessments of need and support identification of thresholds. The tools are to support consideration of the child's daily lived experience.

The Day in the Life Tools can be downloaded and printed:

Child with disabilities

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Day in My Life Tools provide a reference point to assist professionals thinking when exploring neglect with children and their families/carers. Each tool reflects a different group of children and young people and identifies particular issues professionals may want to consider.

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Practical support and advice for Young Carers from Carers UK.

It includes guidance and advice, as well as signposting to the Carers Trust.

It also has information about carers assessments.

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If you are a young carer and looking after someone on a regular basis, there is support and help available to help you cope.

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Their Include service helps young carers, families and those who work with young carers.

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Are you a young person looking for advice, or want to connect with other young carers? You've come to the right place.

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This Carers' Centre animation helps describe what it means to be a young carer, and how our centre can support them.

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If you identify a young carer, you should:

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If you identify a young carer, you should:

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Listen to them and involve them

Find out if they are getting support

Find out if they have had a carers assessment from the council

Use the family approach

Tell them about our Carers and Patients Support Hub, as another method of getting support and signposting

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If they do not have any support, you should:

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If they do not have any support, you should:

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Signpost them to local young carers provisions

If needed, complete a referral for the young carer to children's services (local authority)

Advise them to request a carers assessment, via the local authority

You can also make an adult safeguarding referral with the intention of actioning a social care needs assessment. If we are working with families or people with children in the household, we need to consider their safety.

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Young Carers provisions can vary based on location, so please see the relevant location for the young carer for resources and information.

It is broken down by area/ location, so please ensure you find the most relevant resources and contacts for whoever you are supporting.

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Hampshire Young Carers Alliance (HYCA) is a collective of the young carers groups running across Hampshire.

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Hampshire Young Carers Alliance | Supporting Young Carers in Hampshire

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The Hampshire Young Carers Alliance (HYCA) is a consortium of ten Young Carer projects/services across Hampshire. Learn more.

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Hampshire County Council information on young carers

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Resources: Hampshire (excluding Portsmouth and Southampton

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Resources: Hampshire (excluding Portsmouth and Southampton

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Link to Hampshire's Carers Assessment webpage.

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Home - Basingstoke & District Young Carers

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Who We Are Basingstoke & District Young Carers, a registered Charity Incorporated Organisation (CIO), is dedicated to addressing the unique challenges faced by young carers (aged 8 to 18), in the Basingstoke & Deane district. With an estimated 700,000 young carers nationwide (though the actual number may be higher), these resilient young people, shoulder caregiving […]

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Link to Southampton City Council's carers assessment.

You can also contact: 02380 582387 or referrals@carersinsouthampton.co.uk

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Carers are people of any age who look after an adult or child who is disabled, ill, elderly or has issues with substance misuse and are not paid for the care they give.

What is a Carer's Assessment?

A Carer's Assessment could help you if you look after a relative, or friend, and the unpaid caring you give has an impact on your life.

The aim of a Carer's Assessment is to identify the carer's ability to provide both short and long term care. The assessment gives a carer the opportunity to record the impact that caring has on their life and their mental, emotional and physical health and wellbeing. The assessment will encourage a carer to look at what help they can get from family and friends and what there is in their local community to support them.

What support can a carer get if they do not want an assessment or the person they care for is not a Southampton resident?

Most carers will still be able to get support, for example information about activities or support groups that they can access. For further information please see:

Adult and parent carers can also look at the information on the Unpaid Carers Support Southampton (UCSS) website or contact UCSS.

Parent carers will find a lot of helpful information in the Local Offer Channel SEND information for parents and carers.

Young Carers can contact the No Limits Young Carers Project for information about support.

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A carer's assessment could help you if you look after a relative or friend and caring has a major impact on your life. The aim of a carer assessment is to identify the carer's ability to provide both short and long term care.

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Southampton has a city-wide young carers strategy in place currently which can be shared widely and covers the support available for young carers. This document has information for professionals and young carers alike.

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The young carers service in Southampton City is now run by the Council, who are working with schools and partners across the city to deliver a new model of assessments, support, and activities.

If you have any questions or would like to make a referral, please contact youngcarers@southampton.gov.uk

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Young carers are children and young people under 18 years old whose lives are affected by caring for a relative who may have a physical or learning disability, a long term illness, a terminal condition, mental illness, or difficulties with drug or alcohol use.

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Resources: Southampton City - self-referral for young carers

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Resources: Southampton City - self-referral for young carers

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Young carers can self refer for support.

Professionals can also refer here: Education - Young carers - Professional assessment | Southampton City Council

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Education - Young carer self referral | Southampton City Council

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This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. To learn more, visit our Cookies page.

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Link to the Portsmouth City Council webpage for Carers Assessment.

Or contact: 02392 851864 or carerscentre@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

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A carer (unpaid or informal) is someone who cares for a family member, friend, or neighbour - they are not paid for the care they provide and the person they look after would not cope without their support.

Portsmouth Carers Service provides support for carers (aged 18 years and over) who look after someone living in postcodes PO1-PO6 (support depends on where the person you care for lives - not where you live).

If a carer is under 18 years old they are a Young Carer. Find out about support for Young Carers.

Portsmouth carers service

The Portsmouth Carers Service website is a dedicated one-stop-shop for carers in Portsmouth.

Here you will find many resources for carers and professionals, as well as details of how to access the service and what support is available.

If you are unsure if you are a carer, you can take the 'Am I a Carer? Quiz'.

Support outside of Portsmouth

If you or the person you care for lives outside of postcodes PO1-PO6, you will need to go to the local authority for their home address and search 'carers support'.

In Hampshire support for carers outside of PO1-PO6 is provided by Hampshire County Council. View their Carers support page to find out more.

For more information for carers like support groups, emergency planning and carers breaks, you can also visit:

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A carer is someone who cares for a family member, friend, or neighbour, and the person they look after would not cope without their support.

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The city council website covers how to make a referral and information about young carers.

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Skip to content Skip to navigation

What is a young carer?

A young carer is a person under 18 who provides or intends to provide care for another person.

This relates to care for any family member who is physically or mentally ill, frail, elderly, disabled or misuses alcohol or substances.

'Children should not undertake inappropriate or excessive caring roles that may have an impact on their development. A young carer becomes vulnerable when their caring role risks impacting upon their emotional or physical well-being and their prospects in education and life.' (Care and Support Statutory Guidance. Issued under the Care Act. DH 2014. Paragraph 2.49).

Types of caring

Caring can be broken down into three types; Who does a young carer help look after? Who is a young carer?
Young carers are young people between the ages of 5 to 18 who care for a family member with:

Long term illness

Physical disability

Learning difficulties

Mental health condition

Substance misuse issues

When is someone not a young carer?

If babysitting and getting paid to do it

If carrying out chores for pocket money

If looking after brother or sister as parent works long hours

For someone to be a young carer, there is always a health need.

What provision is there for young carers?

There are young carers groups in secondary schools, across the city. In addition there are other community based support groups:

For 8-14 year olds: there is a group every Saturday morning at the John Pounds Centre in Portsea.

For 8-18 year olds: there is a group every Wednesday evening at the Paulsgrove Family Hub (Cheltenham Road, Paulsgrove PO6 3PL).

For 14-18 year olds: there is a group every Monday evening at the Carers Centre (117 Orchard Road, Southsea PO4 0AD).

For 18-25 year olds: there is a group every Wednesday evening at the Carers Centre (117 Orchard Road, Southsea PO4 0AD).

There are other activities organised for young people 5 to 18 years old during school holidays.

Portsmouth City Council's statutory duty for young carers

Under the Children & Families Act 2014, children have a right to a young carer's assessment. This means that they have a right to be supported and get the help they need.

Contact us

For more advice and support, contact:

Young Carers Team
Somerstown Family Hub
Omega Street
Southsea
PO5 4LP

Phone: 023 9282 1816

Email: youngcarers@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

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Advice and information about young people who are caring for family members

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Portsmouth Carers Service has additional information about the kinds of groups that are available, including provisions for young adult carers.

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Support and advice for children and young people (under 18 years old) who have caring responsibilities is provided by the Young Carers team at Portsmouth City Council. There are currently suuport/activity groups around the city, please speak to the team for a referral.

Call: 02392 821 816

Email: youngcarers@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

Click here to go to the Young Carers webpage.

The Children's Society

The Children's Society has lots of useful information about young carers, what kind of responsibilities they can have and how this can impact on their lives and their mental and physical health. Click here to link to their website.

Young Adult Carers

Once a young carer reaches 18 years old, they are able to join the Young Adult Carers Group. This group builds on the foundations of the Monday Club and introduces a focus for the older carers and their needs, such as continuing education and employment support. Young Adult carers are then able to receive support from Portsmouth Carers Service.

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Young Carers - Portsmouth Carers Service

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The Young Carers team supports children and young people in Portsmouth (under 18) who have caring responsibilities.

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Link to the webpage for Carers Assessments on the Isle of Wight.

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A carer is anyone who cares for a family member, friend, or an adult over the age of 18 years who cannot live independently without support due to:

illness

frailty

disability

mental health condition

addiction

other social limitations, such as keeping a job.

You are still a carer if you care for an adult with one or more of these conditions, whether you are being paid for the support you give or not. Find out if you're eligible for a carer's allowance.

The roles and responsibilities each carer provide vary based on the individual's need for care. These can include everyday tasks, like personal care, such as getting out of bed and bathing, to emotional support and coping with the symptoms of a mental illness.

Many people who care for someone else don't see themselves as carers and may not get the support they need. If you are living on the Isle of Wight, Carers IW can give you help and advice on being a carer. They can provide you with one-on-one and group support and a place for respite, among other services. You can access a carers assessment with us or through Carers IW.

As a carer, you are entitled to an assessment to help identify what support may be required to help you to provide care for another. We will look at:

the individual's need for help who you care for

the help you provide

the support you need for your life outside of caring (such as work, education, family and social lives, your own health and wellbeing)

services we can provide

services other organisations can provide

the impact on your own wellbeing that caring for others with needs has on you and important aspects in your life, including the things you want to achieve daily, for example whether you work or want to work/study

consideration of other important issues, such as being able or willing to continue providing care.

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The Isle of Wight Council - The best place to find local government services and information

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The Isle of Wight Young Carers support is offered by their Family Centres. They offer support for ages 5-18 and the referral form is found on their webpage.

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Young Carers : Isle Of Wight Family Centres

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Young Carers are children and young people aged 5 - 18 whose lives are affected by caring for an unwell member of their family.

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Resource: The A-Z of being a Young Carer

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Resource: The A-Z of being a Young Carer

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This video was created by a group of young carers from the YMCA Young Carers Isle of Wight.

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A story about the importance of identifying young carers, in their own words.

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This video was created by Solent University Students in collaboration with Southern Health. It shows a young carer speaking to a former young carer and is a great resource for educating staff, but also raising general awareness around young carers.

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Additional information about young carer support is available via Barnardo's website also.

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Isle of Wight Young Carers Early Help Family Support | Barnardo’s

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Young carers are children and young people aged 5 to 18 years whose lives are affected by caring for an unwell member of their family. They care for a relative

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Support for young people with their mental health and they have a way to help young people understand that they may be a young carer.

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Essential support for under 25s

Being a young carer or a young adult carer can be challenging sometimes, but it can also be rewarding and brilliant! We've created this page to help you connect with other carers, celebrate your work, learn new skills and find the support and information you need.

Finding support as a young carer

From supporting someone with complex needs, to navigating the world of money, we know that there are lots of diverse issues that matter to young and young adult carers. On this page you'll find lots of helpful resources and interesting content, including links to group chats, e-learning courses and useful apps, articles and videos.

Carers group chats

Speak to other carers and find support from a community that understands what you're going through. The Mix runs group chats for any carers aged up to 25 years old, every Monday from 8-9.30pm. The chat will appear on the link below when the chat rooms are open.

Am I a young carer?

If caring for someone is a part of your everyday life then it can often feel very normal. You might not think of yourself as a young carer, or you might be unsure whether you are one. Finding this out is important to make sure you are supported for the amazing work you do. You could be entitled to help, such as finding employment and benefits to support your family's finances. We've created a tool to help you work out if you are a young carer and to help you find the advice and support you need.

I'm a young carer and I look after my mum

Life as a young carer can be full of challenges, but it can also be extremely empowering. The skill set and maturity developed massively builds your character. However, one major challenge comes as young carers look to the future; how their goals and aspirations coincide with their caring roles. This video is narrated by a young carer called Mariam.

How do I know if I'm a young carer?

You're a young carer if you're under 18 and help to look after a relative or friend with a disability, illness, mental health condition, or drug or alcohol problem.

What's a young adult carer?

Young adult carers are young people aged 16-25 who care, unpaid, for a family member or friend with an illness or disability, mental health condition or an addiction.

What kind of things do young carers and young adult carers do?

If you're a young carer or young adult carer, you probably look after one of your parents or care for a brother or sister. Every carer's experience is unique, and your caring may range from small tasks, to round-the-clock-care.

You may do practical jobs such as cooking, housework and shopping; physical care such as lifting and helping someone up the stairs; personal care such as dressing and washing someone; and emotional support such as listening and calming someone.

How can I get support as a young carer?

There's lots of support available for young carers and young adult carers, and it's important that you make sure you're getting all the help you need. You can get in touch with support groups, where you can talk to other carers who will have similar experiences to you; try The Mix's young carer's group chat.

Talk to your school or employer about your role as a carer to make sure they are supporting you as much as they can. You can also reach out to specialist organisations, such as Carer's Trust.

Our partners

We work in partnership with Carers Trust and Quilter Foundation on this project and would like to thank them for their collaboration, support and expert insights.

The Mix. Registered charity number: 1048995

Welcome to The Mix, a support service for young people. There are loads of ways you can get support from us, including our articles, videos, helpline, counselling, forums, apps and more. To find which service suits your needs use the drop down menu below.

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Welcome to The Mix, the online guide to life for young people in the UK.

Your Voices is a community-focused section of The Mix where you can share stories about your experiences on a specific issue. Upload your own videos, images, blog posts, and playlists to Your Voices and share them with your friends.

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Support & Information For Carers | Young Carers | The Mix

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Essential support for under 25s Being a young carer or a young adult carer can be challenging sometimes, but it can also be rewarding and brilliant! We've created this page to help you connect with other carers, celebrate your work, learn new skills and find the support and information you need.

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This webpage has a bunch of helpful resources from Hampshire Safeguarding Children Partnership, including:

adopting a family approach toolkit

Children of parents with mental health needs

Carers and safeguarding

recognising neglect in children

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These short guides have been developed by HIPS and the 4LSAB's for use by professionals. The files can be downloaded for use by individual practitioners and in training sessions and team meetings.

Further information on all relevant policies is available on the Procedures to support family working page .

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These short guides have been developed by HIPS and the 4LSAB's for use by professionals. The files can be downloaded for use by individual practitioners and in training sessions and team meetings. Further information on all relevant policies is available on the Procedures to support family working page .

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Hampshire is home to all branches of the military and we have a lot of military families within Hampshire. As a Trust, we are signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant and have a duty to support Forces families.

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The support can change for young carers when they turn 18, and this document from the Children's Society outlines how they should be supported and what their statutory rights are.

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There are ten further aims that are highlighted and the key ones for our Trust are:

Young carers should be identified early on

Young carers should be safe and secure

They should have choices in their lives

They can access support for themselves and their family

They have good mental and physical health

They can access and benefit from the rights they have

(Reference: please see the Young Carers Covenant and Guide to this)

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Resource: Guide to the young carers covenant

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Resource: Guide to the young carers covenant

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This video from the Children's society gives insight into life as a young carer.

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Young Minds is a mental health charity for children and young people.

They have a range of resources aimed at young people, parents, and professionals.

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YoungMinds | Mental Health Charity For Children And Young People

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YoungMinds are a mental health charity for children, young people and their parents, making sure all young people can get the mental health support they need.

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Hampshire Child and Adolescent's Mental Health Support (CAMHS) Resources.

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Resource: No wrong doors for young carers

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Resource: No wrong doors for young carers

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"No Wrong Doors for Young Carers" is a template Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) designed to improve joint working between adult and children's social care services, integrated care boards and other key organisations in respect of identification and support for young carers and their families. It covers a range of areas such as identification, whole-family approaches to support and transitions from children's to adult services.

You can find the slides and the webinar recording by clicking on the link.

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Designed to improve joint working between adult and social care services in respect of identification and support for young carers and their families.