Are you a young carer?
Are you aged between 8 and 19 years and have a family member who has a disability, long-term illness, mental health problem or who misuses drugs or alcohol?
Do you live in Huntingdonshire?
Would you like to meet other young people, have some fun and some help to get out a bit more?
We are only a phone call away: 0845 241 2125
Who are our Young Carers?
Our young carers are people like you - there are over 200 of them from Huntingdonshire involved in some way in our groups and activities.
Some of them are doing some 'hands on' care and some are just affected in some way by the situation that they find themselves in.
What will I get out of it?
We have a wide range of activities and support to offer you including:
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Groups to join - by age groups and where you live...
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Day trips
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Focus days
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Short projects
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Residentials
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A Youth Council
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A 1:1 service.
When a young carer joins our activities they can:
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meet with others in similar situations
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have a break from caring
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talk through problems
- get some guidance and support - you might be having some worries about changes in your life...
But most of all have some fun!
We hope this will help you:
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feel more confident
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feel less isolated
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feel more informed of your rights and responsibilities
- feel happy!
What do I need to do to join one of your projects?
Just give us a ring: 0845 241 2125 or drop us an e-mail: enquiries@youngcarershunts.org.uk
We can have a chat about what you might like from the project.
If you let us know how old you are and where you live, we can match you up with a group to join.
We can also send you a copy of our most recent newsletter and tell you about some activities coming up that you might like to try.
What sort of things have you done recently - or are coming up?
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Camping - for St Neots and Hunts Teenage Carers - including a barbeque on the beach or a trip by boat to see seals
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Dance project
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Horse riding
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Lifeskills Project: this was held in the Easter holiday in 2006. It included sessions on health eating and cooking, a trip to the fire station, talks on HIV/AIDS, swimming and how to build your self-esteem up. This got the 'thumbs up' from all those who attended it.
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Lion King Trip to London - The Young Carers Redwood group went on a trip to London during the holidays to see the Lion King, which was brilliant.
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Picnic in the Park
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Quad biking
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Residential project - we took 48 young carers on two residential trips in the summer of 2006, from Hunts and St Neots Teenage Carers; Hunts Middles and Sawtry Groups. The residentials were held at Hilltops outdoor residential centre and included climbing, biking and archery.
- Swimming - during the holidays for St Neots Juniors/Middles and Hunts Juniors and anyone else aged 8-11 years. For either learning to swim or improving your swimming.
Our Groups:
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St Neots Juniors
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St Neots Middles
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Sawtry Group
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Hunts Juniors
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Hunts Middles
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Teenage Carers Group
Two of our staff, Gill and Angela at the Lifeskills Project
What is the Youth Council?
The Young Carers Youth Council have been working as a group since about 2004. They meet together and guide the work of the project. These are some of the things they have been doing recently:
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Awareness raising during the national Carers Week in June 2006.
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Fundraising - for example bag packing for cash in a local supermarket.
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Guiding the project: the council members guide our project and focus groups to make sure they are what the young people want and feel useful
- Schools presentation: the council is developing a presentation that they will perform in schools (from Autumn 2006) to help raise awareness of young carers' issues. They hope this will help school staff to better understand what some young carers may face. It should also let other young carers know that there is support on offer to them.
Did you know?
Some facts and figures...
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The 2001 Census estimated that there are 175,000 young carers aged under 18 years in the UK - but this is most probably an underestimation...
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Around three million children in the UK have a family member who has a disability.
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Around a 250,000 young people in the UK live with a parent who is misusing a Class A drug.
- Around 920,000 young people in the UK are children of alcoholic parents.
Contact:
Crossroads Young Carers Project of Huntingdonshire:
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8 The Meadow, Meadow Lane, St Ives, Cambridgeshire PE27 4LG
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Tel: 0845 241 2125
- E-mail: enquiries@youngcarershunts.org.uk
Charity Registration No. 1091522; Company Registration No. 4379948; A Scheme Member of Crossroads Association.
Useful links:
Last updated: 14 December 2007