Who is a young carer?
A young carer is someone under 18 who helps look after someone in their family, or a friend, who is ill, disabled, has mental health issues or misuses drugs or alcohol.
What might a young carer do?
- Practical tasks, such as cooking, housework, shopping and family budgeting
- Emotional support, such as talking to someone who is distressed
- Personal care, such as helping someone out of bed with a hoist and to help them to dress
- Helping with siblings
- Helping to give medicine, collecting prescriptions
How a caring role can affect a young carer:
Emotionally – putting others first, being worried anxious or stressed
Physically – Suffering strains from heavy lifting, not looking after their own health
Socially – Not able to meet up with friends
Educationally – Difficulties concentrating in class, feeling tired, worried, no time for homework
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How Crossroads Together can help
- Time away from caring responsibilities
- Meet other young carers
- Take part in peer support and skills based activities
- Go on day trips
- Support in school and with homework
- Learn new skills
- Someone to listen and a place to talk
- Information and funding
Giving Young Carers a Voice
Our groups give young carers a chance to talk to one another about their life as a young carer and share their experiences. Our one-to-one sessions offer young carers a chance to talk about how things are going at home giving us an opportunity to identify if further support may be needed.
We will support young carers to be involved in national initiatives, for example the Carers Trust Twitter Thunderclap on Young Carers Awareness Day, the Young Carers Festival and Youth Parliament.
We are a Network Partner of Carers Trust which has a strong national presence with regard to influencing national policy and direction.
Most importantly... you can have some fun!
We provide young carer services in Bolton, Cheshire East, Cheshire West, Herefordshire and Shropshire. Click the link below to view information for your area:
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Contact Bolton Young Carers
Click the link below to view more about Bolton Young Carers Service:
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Contact Cheshire East Young Carers
Click the link below to view more about Cheshire East Young Carers Service:
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Contact Cheshire West Young Carers
Click the link below to view more about our Cheshire West & Chester Young Carers Service:
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Contact Herefordshire Young Carers
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Contact Shropshire Young Carers
Click the link below to view more about our Shropshire Young Carers Service:
Young Carers in Schools
YCiS is a free initiative that makes it as easy as possible for schools to support young carers, and awards good practice.
Run jointly by Carers Trust and The Children’s Society, the Young Carers in Schools (YCiS) programme works with schools across England to share good practice, provide relevant tools and training, and to celebrate the great outcomes that many schools achieve for young carers.
At Crossroads Together, we a number of a dedicated YCiS project worker who works in partnership with schools to support them to achieve their award.
If you ‘d like to find out more about YCiS, please click here.
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Young carers
“Thank you for supporting young carers. It really helps as it makes a HUGE difference; if young carers weren’t here I would feel like the odd one out for EVER. And I wouldn’t have made so many new friends”
“I have never had a day like this. BEST DAY EVER”
“We have been very impressed by what is on offer to Ellie. She seems to be very content knowing that help is there if she needs it, and is very proud to be recognised as a young carer”
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Latest updates
A massive thank you to the High and Mighty Uke Club who have sent in a second donation to be used for activities for Shropshire Young Carers.![]()
Team member Anita and her fellow ukulele players raised the second donation during a recent camping weekend. ![]()
We hope you all had a fabulous time and we are very appreciative of the donations.
5 days ago ·