Project: Young adult carers life skills sessions and awareness raising
Grant: £5,000
Fund: #iwill
Run by Carers Bucks, this Social Action project comprised of two elements:
- The ongoing delivery of life skills sessions and social activity sessions: Life skills will enable young adult carers (YACs) to increase their confidence in the management of their caring responsibilities and help them plan for the future. YACs have reported that social isolation is a huge issue for them so the social aspect of the project is hugely important. It has a positive impact on managing stress and anxiety as well as supporting a range of mental health issues, an area that we know is of concern for YACs.
- Raising awareness of young adult carers among professionals and facilitating the identification of those who might not be receiving support: This was undertaken by recruiting and training YACs in public speaking and presentation skills therefore enabling them to tell their story (if appropriate), raise the issues that have impacted on their life and highlight where professionals could have effectively helped them along the way.
The funding was used for staffing costs, specialist training sessions (public speaking and presentation skills), venue hire and paying for activities.
The grant enabled 130 YACs to work through the challenges they face through balancing caring with their own development, ensuring that any crisis in their caring roles do not have significant negative impact on their training, employablility or moving into independent living.
This service is only 3 years old, and has highlighted a huge gap in service provision for young people transitioning from Children’s to Adult Services. Working in partnership with the service users themselves, we have raised awareness to other young people and professionals that there is support at Carers Bucks for carers between the ages of 16 – 25 years old.
– Sandy Briscoe (Fundraising Manager)
Case study
YAC1 is aware that her caring role will increase as her dad’s Alzheimer’s advances. However, from working with Carers Bucks, she has gone from being withdrawn with little hope to a young lady able to look at all her options and make decisions based on what is best for her and
her dad. She will ask for help when needed, but is very proactive and motivated to make the best of a challenging situation. After a three year hiatus from work, she is now enjoying her position and is looking at building a career and future for herself, whilst continuing to care for her dad.