Support for young carers

A young carer is a child or teenager who helps look after a family member or a friend because that person cannot manage on their own. This might be because they're poorly, have a disability, have problems with their mental health, or sometimes because they have problems with alcohol or drugs.

If you're under 18 and you help care for someone, you're known as a young carer. If you're between 16 and 25, you might also be called a young adult carer.

You are not a young carer if you're paid to do this, or if it’s part of a job or volunteer work.

What young carers do

Young carers help in lots of different ways, including:

  • doing jobs around the house, such as cooking, cleaning and shopping
  • helping someone move, such as getting out of bed or walking
  • giving emotional support, such as listening and talking when someone feels sad
  • personal care, such as helping someone wash, get dressed or take medicine
  • managing money or errands, such as picking up prescriptions
  • helping someone talk or communicate, such as interpreting or going to meetings with them
  • looking after brothers and sisters when parents cannot do it

Every family is different, so what you do as a young carer might be easy or hard. You might spend a little time or a lot of time helping.

You may not know you're a young carer

Lots of children and young people do not think of themselves as carers. Sometimes children or parents might not realise it, or they might worry about telling people about it. Some children do not like to be called a young carer. But caring can affect things like your health, education, and how you feel. So, it’s important that we can talk about it.

Caring alongside your daily life

Young carers have all the same challenges and things to manage as other children, such as:

  • going to school
  • doing homework
  • playing sports or hobbies
  • spending time with friends
  • their mental health

But they’re juggling those things alongside caring for someone.

We think there are three important questions to ask young carers:

  • What care are you giving?
  • What impact is it having?
  • How can I help?

Get help as a young carer

If you're a young carer, or you have a young carer in your family, and feel like you want to talk about what it’s like caring for someone, we're here for you.

The Islington and Camden Young Carers (ICYC) service can give you help, support and advice. You can contact them by:

If you're a young adult carer aged 18-30 you can also contact the Camden Carers service by:

Resources

There's lots of helpful information and advice for young carers on the Carers Trust website.

If you're a young carer who helps care for a brother or sister, you can find help and support on Sibs website.

You can also visit your nearest Children's Centre and Family Hub for advice.