Tag Archives: young carers action day

Young Carers Action Day: Why Young Carers Deserve Fair Futures.

Today is Young Carers Action Day, a time to recognise the incredible strength and resilience of young people who care for others.

As someone who cared for my brother who has autism while growing up, I understand how caring can shape a young person’s life. It can build compassion and responsibility, but it can also bring challenges that many people don’t see especially when it comes to balancing school, friendships, and your own mental wellbeing.

To see my video promoting Young Carers Action day 2026, please view below.

This year’s theme, Fair Futures for Young Carers, is an important reminder that young carers deserve the same opportunities as everyone else to learn, to thrive, and to look after their own wellbeing too.

Young carers should never feel invisible. They deserve recognition, understanding, and the right support in their schools, communities, and workplaces.

Today as of this blog and video, I encourage everyone to take a moment to learn about young carers, listen to their stories, and help create a future where every young carer feels seen, supported, and valued.

Young carers across the UK continue to receive growing recognition and support from organisations, communities and government. For example, Carers Trust leads Young Carers Action Day, encouraging schools, employers and communities to ensure young carers have fair opportunities. Local authorities such as Royal Borough of Greenwich have also highlighted their commitment to supporting young carers through local services and awareness campaigns. Media outlets like BBC Newsround have helped raise awareness among young audiences by sharing stories about the experiences of young carers. In addition, initiatives such as Going Forward into Employment (GFIE) highlight wider efforts to create opportunities for carers and under-represented groups.

It is also important that support reaches ethnic minority carers, who can sometimes face additional barriers such as cultural stigma, language barriers, or limited access to services. Organisations such as Carers UK and community groups working with Black, Asian and minority ethnic carers continue to call for more inclusive and culturally sensitive support.

https://carers.org/young-carers-action-day-2026

https://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/news/2026/greenwich-stands-young-carers

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround

https://gfie.blog.gov.uk

https://www.carersuk.org

Young Carers Action Day 2025: Give Me A Break – Supporting Young Carers’ Well-being & Mental Health

Blog post by Matthew McKenzie

Young Carers Action Day 2025 – “Give Me A Break”

Imagine carrying the weight of responsibility far beyond your years. Imagine balancing school, friendships, and your own well-being while caring for a loved one. This is the reality for thousands of young carers across the country.

What is Young Carers Action Day?

Young Carers Action Day is an annual event held in mid-March, organized and led by Carers Trust.

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Young Carers Action Day

Welcome back to another blog post by carer activist and author Matthew McKenzie. Only a few days until Young Carers Action day 2023, which will be on wednesday 15 of March. Young Carers Action day is an annual awareness and campaign event run by national carer’s charity Carers Trust.

If you are not sure what young carers do. They look after someone in the family unpaid and will have to cook, provide housework and even do shopping. It is not those tasks alone, young carers from the age of 5 can even provide physical care or emotional support. Young carers might even have to advocate for the person they care for or even help communicate for the ‘cared for’.

Embed from Getty Images

If you wish, you can check out my video on Young Carers Action day from my YouTube site below.

With all the tasks mentioned above and more, it makes sense that the theme for YCAD is “Make time for young carers”. It is important young people get the time for themselves since their role can be very demanding and caring for someone often comes with sacrifices. Later in life, people might have a choice in the care they provide, this cannot always be said for young carers who miss out on many opportunities. This could be in making friends with those at school, or missing out on education and skills training. When caring for someone, if you do not get a break then your own wellbeing is at risk.

So it is important young carers have access to breaks and are able to be identified early. When I was young, I did not know I was a young carer, so Young Carers Action Day helps raise awareness to young people who are caring. Once they know they are carers, then it is easier to ask for support and to ask to be identified.

Carers Trust want several things to happen for young carers.

  • improved support in schools
  • more access to breaks,
  • better access to counselling support
  • and more financial support.

If you want to help spread the message, check out Carers Trust resource pack from the link below

Carers Trust YCAD Resource Pack

Young Carers Action day 2021

Welcome back to another Blog post from Matthew Mckenzie, unpaid carer over in South London, author, activist on my projects called a caring mind.

This Blog post supports the national carer charity – Carers Trust – Young Carers action day for March 16th 2021, but why is it so important young carers get such recognition or even an event to highlight their caring role?

Basically, Young Carers Action Day is an annual event led by Carers Trust. It raises awareness and calls for action to increase support for young people with caring responsibilities.

To see the video of this blog see below.

For 2021, Young Carers Action day will be about Protecting Young Carers’ Futures and making sure that all young and young adult carers get the support they need to go after their dreams.

As a young carer myself…all those years ago, I never gave it a second thought what future I could possibly have, I just kept doing what I was doing, providing care and support. Now with the strain on how schools, health and social care services, it is now even more important to raise that awareness for young carers and also get young carers involved to tell their story and give them the chance and confidence to campaign on what they want for the future.

When young carers think about their future, they think about developing their skills, about what they want to do in their career, their dreams and aspirations. Caring for those you love or support is an honorable role, but it should not define our future and should not hold people back.

With support from schools, carer centres and those who can help make change. Young carers are encouraged to campaign, make a statement and help raise awareness about young carers, especially in schools. Not everyone in schools or colleges can identify or are even aware of young people who provide unpaid care. We have young carers helping or spending large amounts of time looking after someone, which could be helping to keep that person clean, cooking food and cleaning, advocating and being there for that person. All this takes time and energy and we should recognize the added strain facing young carers…..it should be about action and keeping that awareness going.

Carers trust a national charity focusing on making a better future for carers young and old have a wealth of resources for those especially young carers wanting to campaign.

These being

  • Creating a Young Carer Skills Journal
  • Campaign Packs with logos
  • Young Carers Action Day posters
  • and even just to find out more information about Young carers action day.

Please check out their site on https://carers.org/young-carers-action-day-2021

Its important we as a community and society help give power for young carers to help shape and protect there futures…..they deserve it