Carers Trust Norfolk has launched a major Cash Quest challenge to businesses, schools, groups and individuals to raise funds in support of its brilliant young carers who support loved ones.
The challenge invites teams to turn £50 into as much money as possible. The £50 stake will be given to each team by the charity, having been donated by sponsors. Teams can hold a major event or several small ones and the challenge will run from 13 June until 21 September.
Dr Helen Brown, CEO of Carers Trust Norfolk, said: “We want to let people know now about the Cash Quest for Young Carers challenge now so they can get their teams together ready for the launch on 13 June.
“It’s up to them what they do, they can be as innovative, creative and adventurous as they wish, and it would be great if they could raise at least £500, but there is no minimum target, only the requirement that they return their £50 stake to us in the end.”
Winners of Cash Quest 2017 will be presented with awards in the following categories:
- Most money raised by a team of under 25-year-olds
- Most money raised by a team of any ages
- Most innovative idea
- Outstanding teamwork
Dr Brown added: “The money raised will help young carers across the region who do an amazing job looking after parents, brothers or sisters. Caring can be tough. It takes time. It can be stressful. You would be helping us provide them with more support, trips and groups. This gives them a break, it gives them someone else to listen to their worries. We currently support over 500 young carers across Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and the majority of this work is carried out through charitable funding.
“We hope that dozens of teams in the region will take up the challenge. We want to be able to make a difference to the lives of more young carers and make a bigger impact for those we already support. We hope people will spread the word amongst their friends and colleagues and get a team together.”
Norfolk Young Carers Forum, run by Carers Trust Norfolk, in collaboration with Norfolk County Council Children’s Services, recently produced 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.
How we support young carers in Norfolk
Case study 1
Danni is 18 and cares for multiple members of her family who have a range of different health issues, ranging from mental health to learning disabilities. She tries to balance helping care for her siblings and parents with her college work and her part-time job, which she needs to do to save money for going to university.
Before Danni joined Norfolk Young Carers Forum, the impact of her caring responsibilities meant that her attendance at school really suffered as she struggled to balance everything, and she struggled to keep up with her work. She hadn’t told anyone in school that she was a Young Carer as she didn’t know that they could help.
Since joining the Forum, Danni has helped raise awareness about young carers in her school, as well as across Norfolk, and was appointed the first ever Young Carers champion for her school. She helped her school to put in place support for the other young carers in the school, resulting in her school being the first recipient of the NYCF ‘Young Carer Friendly Tick’ Award.
Danni’s attendance and attainment has now dramatically improved, as her confidence, so much so that she was appointed as Head Girl because of her work with young carers in school and she is now looking forward to going to university in September.
Case study 2
Beth, 17, says:
“I started caring when I was five as my mum became depressed when my dad died when he was in the army.
“When my brother was born, he was diagnosed at two with Asperger’s which was when I started going to Young Carers.
“My mum has fibromyalgia, autism, bi-polar, M.E, arthritis, hip displasia, inverted hips and my brother has different things including Asperger’s and Irlens syndrome.
“It is hard sometimes and I have depression and anxiety with everything that happened in my life and all this stuff doesn’t help with it. I’ve been in counselling since I was five, but being involved with Young Carers helps because it helps me to control my anxiety. Being part of the Forum puts me into situations I would never typically put myself in which helps with my confidence – and I’ve made nearly all my best friends here and it’s a place I can escape and feel accepted.”
An online entry form is available on our website.
This is how funds are used to support young carers:
- £15 could give a young carer precious time for themselves to relax with others who understand.
- £20 could go towards palliative care to help the whole family be as normal as possible in a difficult situation – often social services will not be able to respond quickly enough in these situations.
- £50 could go towards running a creative therapy sessions for young carers to help them express themselves creatively and share their experiences with others who are in a similar situation.
For further information contact Kate Bement on [email protected] or phone 01480 499090.
Also please get in touch if you are a young carer and would like to know how we can support you.
