Young Carers' Stories

Below are the stories of two young carers:

Jamie's Story

Jamie is a 12 year old boy who helps care for his two younger brothers, aged 10 and 8, who have severe learning disabilities. Jamie was referred by his mother last year after she heard about our project from an autism support group. Mum was concerned that her very quiet, withdrawn son bears too much responsibility for his brothers.

Dena, Jamie's mother is a lone parent with three boys and a 4 year old daughter at home. The three boys share a bedroom, with the 10 year old insisting on sharing a bed with Jamie; preventing him from going to sleep and attaches himself to Jamie at playtimes stopping him from having any time with his own peers.

The younger boys have severe behaviour issues, resulting from their difficulties, preventing Jamie from inviting friends home. Jamie wants to and enjoys helping his brothers, but at times is in desperate need of his own space and some time with his peers. He can be extremely tired which affects his academic performance. Jamie came along to his first activity with us with a friend in the project. Since then he has attended almost every event and we have seen him blossom. He has made many new friends and has shared experiences with other young carers, showing him he is not alone.

Chelsea's Story

Chelsea, a 10 year old girl, was referred to the Young Carers' Project by a Family Support Worker in June 2009 who described her as a girl lacking self confidence, with no friends and who considers herself to be a loner. She reported that Chelsea was lonely and bullied at school.

Chelsea's mum has a degenerative eye condition which limits her, so she cannot often leave the house on her own. Chelsea's development and wellbeing has been affected by these difficulties. She is a sensitive child and becomes upset easily. Chelsea helps her mum with house work and shopping but mainly she worries about her mum's safety and health.

It was very important for Chelsea to have experience of peer support, friendship and also a break from her responsibilities. Chelsea took part in most of the activities we arranged for young carers in the past year and the change was amazing! From the withdrawn, quiet girl who hardly spoke to anyone on her first trip, she developed into a pretty bossy, confident, outspoken girl after our four day drama workshop.

Chelsea gained new friends, but also for the first time, she now has friends in her school as two of our other young carers are in her class. This has made a significant difference to Chelsea's enjoyment of school and also to her level of academic achievement. We continue supporting Chelsea and her mum and have gained the trust of both of them. Chelsea's mum shares with us her worries about Chelsea's wellbeing and doesn't hesitate to ask for our help. This is a huge achievement!