Young carers – children who help look after family members, perhaps with a disability, illness or addiction – face daily struggles and pressures, miss out on childhood experiences many of us take for granted and risk achieving lower education outcomes because of their caring role. The pandemic has affected every corner of society and the health and happiness of young people up and down the country. For young carers, challenging situations have compounded over the past 18 months, with many now caring for family members for longer periods of time with less support.

40 percent of young carers say their mental health is worse since Covid 19, with 69 percent reporting they feel less connected to others as a result of the pandemic (source  here).

Staying connected and supported through technology

Young carer organisations play a crucial role in enabling the estimated 700,000 young carers in the UK to enjoy their childhood, reach their potential and live healthy, fulfilling lives. As with almost everything in recent months, face-to-face support, activities, networks and groups designed to support our young carers have been increasingly difficult to sustain.

At Mind Of My Own we are proud to have a number of young carer organisations in our growing community – many of whom are seeing a spike in referrals as we emerge from lockdown. Many of these organisations have found scenarios, such as ‘My wellbeing’ within the One app, crucial in supporting young carers both in initial assessments and ongoing support.

Mind Of My Own has made my face-to-face work 1 million times better.

Mark Graham, Carers Trust Heart of England

Last July we wrote about the importance of digital inclusion during lockdown. A year on, using Mind Of My Own to understand the thoughts, feelings, worries and wishes of a young person at a time when they may feel more isolated than ever, means those valuable face-to-face meetings or check-ins over Zoom can focus on resolving issues, rather than gathering information. More importantly, young carers feel empowered, that their voice is being heard and that their support network is just a click or two away.

To find out more about our work with young carer organisations, send us an email to hello@mindfmyown.org.uk