Media invited to attend: Friday 25 November, 4-6pm, Costessy Centre, Norwich, NR8 5AH
Norfolk Young Carers Forum are marking Carers Rights Day on Friday, 25 November with the launch of a Norfolk Guide to Assessment for Young Carers and their families.
Special guests attending the launch include North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb, a former Care Minister, as well as partners from across Norfolk and Professor Jo Aldridge, a leading academic on young carers. It is being held 4-6pm at the Costessy Centre, Norwich.
Norfolk Young Carers Forum, run by Carers Trust Norfolk, have been working with Norfolk County Council Children’s Services to produce a guide to the new statutory right to a Needs Assessment for Young Carers. The Forum is made up of young carers from across the county who have a caring responsibility in the home and get together to try and make things better for all young carers in Norfolk.
It is estimated there are more than 12,500 young carer givers aged 5-25 in Norfolk – as many as two pupils in each class – and identifying them early is vital. They can be provided with support following a Carer’s Assessment to safeguard their wellbeing, and many young care givers are unaware that this is available for them.
A Carers Trust Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Norfolk spokesperson, said: “The new guide explains in very simple terms what an assessment is. The guide is intended to help and support young carers and their families. It can seem daunting, but it is a simple process of asking them some questions about their caring role to find out what they are doing if identify how they can be helped.
“We know that being a young care giver can affect their school work and result in bullying and isolation, and have a considerable impact on their childhood.
“We hope that children and young people with caring responsibilities can be more easily identified and helped, along with their families, to access the right support after being given a Carer’s Assessment.”
There are 700,000 young carers in the UK who work around the clock providing care and support family and friends, and countless more who are not aware that they have a caring role and are entitled to an assessment and support.
A young carer is a young person under the age of 18 who has a caring responsibility. This is usually a family member who has a long term disability, long-term illness, mental illness (including depression and anxiety), or drug/alcohol substance misuse.
Young carers have the right to ask for an assessment following the introduction of the Children and Families Act 2014. As a young carer approaches 18, the pathways of accessing support services change and a Transition Assessment is given.
Note to Editors:
For media enquiries and to confirm attendance, please contact Communications Officer Ellee Seymour on 01480 499090.
