Hampshire young carers
Who are Young Carers?
A young carer is a young person under 18 that helps to look after a relative with a disability, illness, mental health condition, or drug or alcohol problem. This could be a parent, brother, or sister.
Young Carers may do extra jobs in and around the home, such as cooking, cleaning, shopping or helping siblings get to school. They may do physical or personal care like helping someone get out of bed or move around or get dressed or help with a wheelchair. They may help with managing budgets or collecting prescriptions. They may also give their siblings and parents emotional support too such as being encouraging when someone is upset.
What do we know about Young Carers in Hampshire?
1. The 2021 Census identified that there were 2690 young carers in Hampshire
2. The Hampshire Young Carers Alliance is aware of 3360 young carers with 1741 actively receiving support
3. 1632 Young Carers are known to Hampshire schools
4. It is believed that statistics are under-represented and that there could about 10,000 young carers in our county
5. It is estimated that 1 in 5 pupils in every classroom could be young carers.
“Our son struggles at school with anxiety and is incredibly quiet and introverted at school which can make friendships difficult with his peer group. And at home he is often subjected to controlling behaviour from his sister, where her difficulties and anxiety mean that she has to be 'in charge' of him and their play all the time. So young carers is the place I see him really animated and confident. Whenever I drop him off it blows me away how confident and happy he is he is in the group and how the others are all so welcoming with him. If there is a school trip he will need weeks of preparation where we have to go over every single detail of the trip to reduce his anxiety and it will often affect his sleep etc. In contrast, as soon as I mention a young carers trip he lights up and is happy to just go along, without any 'prep' which tells me just how happy/unanxious he is with you guys. I can't thank you enough for what you do.”Basingstoke Young Carers