Financial resilience for young carers and families

Aim: We want to give young carers and their families the time and tools to build and strengthen personal and financial resilience.

We provide a vital lifeline for young carers and their families. We deliver crucial 1-2-1 support to young carers who face significant challenges which can be extremely life restricting.  Leaving them feeling isolated, anxious and struggling with their wellbeing.   

    "I’m falling behind with my school work"  "I will never have a happy life again" "I                                     don’t want to see my friends; I’d rather stay in my bedroom"

We also know that family stress can have a significant impact on the well-being of a young carer and their family, leading to issues such as housing, social isolation, or unemployment.  

      “The benefits system is very difficult and I have asked for advice a few times when                                                   helping my mum apply for PIP.”

We support our young carers and their families to build up and strengthen personal and financial resilience, giving them vital time, tools and skills to navigate the challenges they face.

Why we need your support more than ever

• We know that all carers are facing unprecedented financial difficulties because of the UK’s current cost of living crisis, piling further stress on those caring after an extremely challenging two years caring through COVID-19.  Caring already comes with additional costs that can have a significant impact on finances, and we know many carers suffer financial hardship as a direct result of the care they provide (source – Carers UK).
• These disadvantages are compounded by the issue of rurality in Northern Devon, one of the largest and most rurally isolated areas in England.  Torridge was ranked 67 out of the 326 on the Government’s deprivation indices, meaning reduced access to housing/services, lower income, and poorer physical and mental health (source – Torridge District Council Report 2019).  
• And this problem is not going away, in 2022/23, households will see a 2.2% drop in household income and 1.3m people will be pushed into poverty, including 500,000 children (source – Office for Budgetary Response 2022). 
• We are already seeing the highest number of families in temporary accommodation in North Devon (source – Devon County Council, please note this is all families and not just the ones we support) and this worrying trend may only continue to rise.  

How can you help us?

Please donate today and your money will go towards.

•  Providing much needed 1:1 support for our young and young adult carers.  Giving them the tools and bespoke support to build confidence and strengthen much needed resilience in all life areas.   Young carers do so much in their caring role, from physical and mental support through to managing the household finances and bills.
• Giving families much needed financial advice and support through our expert partners, Citizens Advice Torridge, North, Mid & West Devon. This includes advice on debt, energy bills and benefits, giving young carers and their families the ability to manage their money better and build up financial resilience at a crucial time in their lives whilst juggling all the wider economic challenges.
• Running group activities, these are a valuable resource where we can spend time with the whole family in an informal setting.   This gives a much needed opportunity to relax and talk about any issues or support needs.

 Why are young carers so important?

 A young carer is someone aged 18 and under, who cares for a family member who, due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction cannot cope without their support.  Older young carers aged between 18 and 25 are known as young adult carers and they may have very different support needs to younger carers.

 A young carer may support someone with:

• Managing the family budget and paying household bills.
• Practical tasks such as cooking, housework, laundry, shopping or fetching items such as prescriptions.
• Physical care such as helping someone to get out of bed or steadying them when they walk or pushing their wheelchair.
• Emotional support for the people they care for such as listening to their worries, keeping them company, being aware when they’re feeling low and coping with any changes in their behaviour.
• Personal care such as helping someone get dressed, washed or showered, putting on socks and shoes, or being aware when they are in the shower if they’re unsteady.

 Did you know?

• Over one third of YCs have poor mental health, they provide vital support for their loved ones however their own mental health is often overlooked. 
• More than 25% of YCs aged 11 to 15 miss school due to their caring role and in a survey over one third said nobody in their school was even aware of their caring responsibilities. 
• Research shows that young carers have significantly lower educational attainment at GCSE level, an average of one grade lower than their peers.  They are also less likely to be in education employment or training when aged between 16 and 19.

BUT! Young carers are very mature and responsible and cope with change very well. They are caring, understanding and empathetic and are accepting of differences in others.  They are good listeners, great team players.  Often overlooked, they have a range of skills and attitudes that are useful to future employers and to our communities.

Importance of whole family support

We know that stress and pressures can impact the whole family and that is why we want to provide holistic support for the young carer and their family. As part of the regular dialogue with our young carers, we asked them about any additional support they would like to see. 86% said that support for the whole family would have a hugely positive impact on their current situation.

 “Since the pandemic, I've been out of work and our situation with everything has been very grim. I know my family would greatly appreciate knowing more about benefit advice, debt advice, housing health and wellbeing advice too… "

For whole family support, we have had 17 families referred through to our partners Citizens Advice Torridge North West and Mid Devon.  The key themes for support include debt advice/sign posting, energy advice and benefits advice/signposting.  This support is more crucial than ever as we start to see people being hit by the cost-of-living crisis and in North Devon and Torridge, there is also a real and ever-growing housing crisis.  

This project successfully funded on 16th December 2022