Who is a young carer?

A young carer is someone aged 18 or under who helps to look after someone at home who needs extra support or care.

Who do young carers look after?

You might help to look after your mum, dad, brother, sister, grandparent or someone else who lives at home with you. The person you look after might have:

• A sensory impairment
• A long-term illness
• A physical or learning disability
• A drug or alcohol problem
• Mental ill health

What caring duties might a young carer have?

Each young carer and their family are different which means that each young carer's caring role is likely to be different. Some responsibilities might be:

• Helping around the house (for example, washing clothes, cleaning, washing up after dinner).
• Looking after brothers or sisters (for example, helping them to get ready for school, taking them to school or picking them up, keeping an eye on them at home).
• Helping with personal care (for example, washing the person you care for or helping them to get dressed).
• Helping with financial issues (for example, paying the bills, going to the bank).
• Interpreting or translating for the person you care for.
• Helping with medical issues (for example, going with the person you care for to appointments, helping them to take their medicine).
• Keeping someone safe and keeping them company.

You might not do many of these practical tasks, but you might do lots of worrying about someone at home. Sometimes, young carers can also feel like they are missing out on things that their friends are doing because they have to help to look after someone.

Kingston Carers' Network's Young Carers' Project is open to all young carers living in, or caring for someone living in, the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.