Young Carers Action Day 2025
Wednesday 12th March is Young Carers Action Day – a day to raise awareness of the UK’s Young Carers. A Young Carer is someone under the age of 18 (they may be as young as five) who looks after a family member or a friend who has a physical or mental health condition or misuses substances like drugs or alcohol.
Funding from Forward Carers has provided targeted support for Young Carers in Birmingham via our partners, YMCA Sutton Coldfield and Action for Children. Here are some examples of how this collaboration has impacted the lives of young people who provide care to members of their families.
Ruby*
Ruby shares her experience of caring for her brother and how Action for Children helped her.
“I am autistic and have ADHD. My brother is aged nine and is autistic and non-verbal. My Dad has health problems regarding his weight, heart and knee.
I care for my brother by looking after him, I help him to change his clothes, helping him go to the toilet and helping to feed him. He also has sleeping issues so sometimes he sleeps with me if he wakes up in the middle of the night. He often has meltdowns and is sometimes aggressive with me.
This is stressful at times and inconveniences me as we can’t do normal things and everything has to adapt to him. For example, we can’t go out as often, we can’t go on long journeys. He’s also loud and disturbs me revising and brings lots of attention to us when he has meltdowns in his pushchair.”
Ruby took part in Action for Children’s Bouncing Back Programme which provided mental health support to Young Carers within schools.
Ruby said, “It helped me to identify triggers and how to overcome it. It’s given me lots of resources and educated me. The packs were really nice and the activities were good and interesting.”
Tyler*
“I live with my Mom and Stepdad. Our house is quite crowded as there are eight of us altogether. I share a room with my brothers and we nearly always stay up late. My older brother has recently moved back home with his girlfriend as well as their baby so the house can be noisy.
I help to look after my younger siblings and often help with their homework and listen to their fears and worries. My Mom looks out for me though and she talks to my school to make sure I’m supported.
I try and remain positive. I do not feel helping is my duty, I do it to help my siblings and my Mom.”
Tyler, also took part in the Bouncing Back programme, managing emergencies and medication plus managing behaviour.
“I really enjoyed the programme and feel more confident asking for support when I need it. I learnt a lot of new techniques that I did not know before and have found this very useful. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to take part in this programme and would like to be invited back to any future events with Action for Children.”
Young Carers do practical things like cooking, cleaning, shopping and going to doctors or to hospital appointments often for a family member who needs extra support. They also give emotional support to the person they are caring for. If you know a young person who performs these types of tasks, help and support is available. For further information and to make a referral for support, visit our Young Carers Service page on our website.
For older Young Carers, aged 18-25, support is available via our Young Adult Carers service delivered by our partner YMCA Sutton Coldfield. You can find out more here.
*Ruby and Tyler’s names have been changed to protect their identity.
