Feature: how young carers of Warwickshire are being supported during COVID-19

When lockdown forced the young carers of Warwickshire to be supported virtually, the videos and online activities the charity created proved crucial in replacing their usual face-to-face sessions.

Now, in honour of Carers Week (June 8 to 14), WYC is extending its invitation to Warwickshire's sportspeople, entrepreneurs, writers, musicians, poets, chefs and more to get involved.

Carers Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contributions they make to families and communities throughout the UK.

The campaign is brought to life by thousands of individuals and organisations who come together and draw attention to just how important caring is - for WYC this is their everyday.

The charity works with young carers, aged from 6 to 25, who care for siblings, parents or grandparents.

These youngsters are heavily relied on to help with a disability, substance dependency, mental health condition or terminal illness, which places considerable strain on their own lives.

When the charity accepted the help of local business growth specialist, Kevin Riley, earlier this year, little did they know that he would support them through one of the biggest challenges the charity has had to face.

Rachel Faulkner, the charity’s CEO, had begun work with Kevin to prepare their small team to reach more young carers.

Their sessions supported her and her team to quickly react to continue their support of 2,500-plus young carers in the region when the COVID-19 lockdown hit.

Rachel said: “It was crucial for us to make our services available virtually as, for many of our carers, our sessions provide the only time to switch off from their daily duties and concerns.

"They still needed that time with us and their friends to ensure they didn’t become socially isolated during lockdown.

"In fact, COVID-19 has meant we’ve had to increase our number of available resources as we expect more young carers to need our help during this challenging time.

"That’s why we’re asking for people to get involved to provide some fun content for our YouTube channel.”

When COVID-19 reared its ugly head, the team of key workers were not in a position to be furloughed, leaving their young carers without support.

Pairing online conferencing technology with its new YouTube channel, WYC has continued effective group and one-to-one support, encouraging resilience and emotional wellbeing.

“It’s been incredible to work with such a lively, proactive and passionate group of people,” Kevin said.

"Their sheer dedication and love for what they do shines through every single day, despite this additional hurdle.

"The charity holds a special place in the ActionCOACH Warwick team’s heart – the work they do is inspiring to say the least.

"We’ll be offering a video to the channel and it would be great to get some really entertaining and valuable content from the people of Warwickshire to keep up the spirits of these young carers.”

To find out more about volunteering content for the WYC group activities or YouTube channel, contact the charity via its website warwickshireyoungcarers.org.uk or call: 02476 217740.