Young Carers
Who are young carers?
A young carer is a person under aged 25 and under who provides care for a family member or friend who is ill, disabled, has a mental health condition, or addiction problem.
‘A young carer becomes vulnerable when their caring roles risks impacting upon their emotional or physical wellbeing and their prospects in education and life.’ (Department of Health, 2014).
Caring Responsibilities
Young carers often take on practical and/or emotional caring responsibilities that would normally be expected of an adult. These can include:
- 🍳 Practical Tasks Cooking family meals, handling general housework, and managing the food shopping.
- ♿ Physical Care Lifting or physically helping a family member safely navigate the home or use the stairs.
- 🧼 Personal Care Assisting with dressing, washing, showering, or helping directly with toileting needs.
- ❤️ Emotional Support Listening, calming a relative down during distress, and consistently being present to support.
- 💰 Household Budgeting Managing the family budget, collecting state benefits, or picking up prescriptions.
- 💊 Medication Control Organising, keeping track of, and administering complex medication requirements.
- 👶 Younger Siblings Looking after, getting ready, and supervising younger brothers or sisters in the house.
- 🗣️ Communication Help Helping someone communicate with official services or translating dynamically when needed.
If you think your child is a young carer, please contact Mrs Devecioglu, School Young Carers Lead to discuss how we can support you and your child.
✉️ safeguarding@elmwood-jun.croydon.sch.uk
You can also contact Croydon Young Carers (also known as ‘Off the Record’) who are a charity based in Central Croydon:
Visit Off the Record Croydon Young Carers Portal →