MYTime Young Carers’ Charity marked the national awareness day with an activity day for Dorset Young Carers at RockReef climbing activity attraction on Bournemouth Pier.
Young Carers Awareness Day raises awareness of the challenges faced by young carers and is an opportunity to offer these incredible young people the support, friendship and opportunities they deserve.
Executive Director at MYTime Young Carers’ Krista Cartlidge advised, “We are delighted to have had so much interest in this event with 8 local schools bringing over 100 young carers to enjoy a day of fun activities at RockReef. It’s been a wonderful day, watching the young carers having so much fun and getting the chance to have a break from their caring responsibilities was really special”
“There are some extremely concerning statistics regarding the number of young carers registered in the UK. The 2011 census indicated that there are 166,000 young carers aged 5 – 17 in the UK. However, research carried out by Nottingham University and the BBC estimate the actual number of young carers to be closer to 800,000. They highlight that up to 1 in 12 children having caring responsibilities. MYTime Young Carers are working hard to help identify and support these ‘invisible’ young carers.
“Being a young carer can have a significant impact on their education. On average, a young carer misses 48 school days a year because of their caring responsibility or because of their own poor health as a result of worry or tiredness. This accounts for nearly 25% of their education; which can lead to lower GCSE results, feeling isolated from their friends and less chance to be involved in extra-curricular activities.”
“Today’s activity day has been financially supported by telecoms-company, 4Com who recently carried out a virtual cycling challenge from Paris to Bournemouth and beyond, raising much needed funds for our charity. We have been thrilled to involve some of the 4Com staff as volunteers today, in order that they can fully appreciate how their sterling fundraising efforts have impacted the charity.
“We’ve also been delighted to have the support of Saffery Champness Chartered Accountants who generously sponsored some MYTime t-shirts, worn by the volunteers supporting today’s young carers.”
An eleven year old carer who attended the event said, “Being a young carer sometimes makes me feel frustrated because everything is on me. It makes me quick to get angry. I thinks that’s why days like today help me to relax.”
Steve Ross, a school based social worker at the Grange School commented, “Today has allowed the children to understand that they are not on their own as carers. They’ve got to see who else in the school is in a similar situation and know that they can have someone to lean on. So much fun has been enjoyed today.”
Sarah Hunter, Marketing Manager at RockReef said, “It’s been a real pleasure to host MYTime and the young carers today and we are delighted that it has been such a success.”
Anyone wishing to find out more about MYTime Young Carers’ Charity is urged to contact Krista and her team on E: Krista@mytimecharity.co.uk www.mytimecharity.co.uk