Welcome fellow unpaid carers and carer activists. Did you know at the time of this blog post that it is Young Carers Action Day 2024?

Young Carers Action Day or YCAD 2024 takes place on the 13th of March each year. The carers awareness day is lead by Carers Trust and supported by many organisations across the country

The purpose of the day is to raise public awareness of the challenges faced by young people because of their caring role, and to campaign for greater support for young carers and their needs.

The theme for Young Carers Action Day 2024 is ‘Make Time for Young Carers‘. The theme looks at fair futures for young carers which will be focussing on why caring should not be a barrier to learning.

It is not good news if you are a young carer. Stats say that 1 in 3 young carers struggle to balance caring with our education, this can have a big impact on whether they can get on at school, go to university, or get a job or an apprenticeship.

The impact on young carers can be tremendous. If someone is providing unpaid care, they will struggle to do schoolwork and even when at school the young carer will be tired. All this will impact on the carers school performance, which will have a knock on affect for further education.

It is not just about education, young carers can be isolated and stigmatised, especially if caring for someone with mental illness. Young carers are often bullied and excluded, by only doing what is expected of a caring community.

So what can you do to help make a difference for Young Carers Action Day?

Tips

• You can raise awareness by using social media, just like my blog post.
• As a carer activist you can appeal to the UK Government for more help to be given to young carers.
• Network partners of Carers Trust can get a resource pack promoting YCAD
• Schools should listen to carer centres on best practice in identifying and supporting young carers, offering free tools and resources
• Young carers, make yourselves known to us, as well as your school/college, employer and your GP.

Every young carer should have the chance to develop their own futures. Young Carers Action Day aims to create a future where young carers do not have to struggle so much.