Interviews

Alex, Princess Royal Trust for Carers	David, Local Councillor	Hazel, cared for adult
Elaine, Parent of young carers	Kerri, Social Worker	Laura, Community Nurse
Stephen, cared for adult	Sara, young carers project worker	Paula, Parent of young carers and ex-project worker

Click on their heads to read the interviews.

Interview with Alex Fox
(Princess Royal Trust for Carers)

Do you know what a young carer is?
Helping somebody to get about or helping them get to the shops or their helping them get washed or dressed in the morning and they might be helping younger brother and sisters as well. Some young carers are staying in a lot to look after somebody who needs a shoulder to cry on and needs someone to give them that emotional support!

How do Young Carers get on in school?
Some young carers do really well at school, some young carers have real difficulty getting their homework in and spending their time that they want to spend on their work because they’re too busy looking after someone!

A lot of young carers, nobody outside of the family knows that they’re looking after someone, so the teachers aren’t very sympathetic to them, they just think that they’re making up excuses!

I’d say some young carers get really frustrated with what’s going on at home and that means that they take it out on the teachers and because nobody knows they’re a young carer they can get in to trouble and some young carers end up getting excluded!

What problems do young carers have with friendships?
I’ve met a lot of young carers who don’t have as many friends as they’d like because they have to keep a lot secret from other people in their school, so that people don’t take the mickey out of them!

I’ve also known lots of young carers who’ve made really close friends at young carers projects and young carers clubs because they know that other young people understand a bit about what life’s like for them!

What support do young carers get?
I'd say most young carers don't get any support at all because there's lots of young carers where nobody knows what's going on so they are doing it all by themselves.

What would help young carers?
There are plenty of places in the country that don’t have any young carers projects at all so they don't have anybody that knows any thing about young carers.

What do young carer projects provide?
It provides clubs for young carers and they'll take people on breaks and activities and there is usually someone there that can do some one to one work if they want someone to listen to them.

A lot of them will help the parents as well. So if the parents don’t know where to get help then they will give them the information.

Interview with Cllr David Williams

What do you think are the main problems faced by young carers?
Well, lets leave the label ‘carer’ for a minute and think about anybody’s needs. You need to be with other people, you need to be encouraged and supported. Any human being needs these things, needs to share ideas, and needs to be able to go and see new things. I imagine that your experience as young carers makes all that even more necessary for you because of your life experiences and what you do to support your families. I cared for my father-in-law when he was completely losing his memory and getting very, very disorganised. Having someone to talk to and having a bit of a break from what I was doing became hugely important to me.

How could teachers and schools be more understanding of young carers’ problems?
Lets say that teachers ought to be a bit flexible if things are not quite right. There’s a lot of pressure to do homework right? So suppose its not all neat and tidy, suppose its not quite finished, the homework isn’t quite finished, the project isn’t quite finished. There is a lot of pressure to get things to a high standard; the whole thing is about standards. Perhaps teachers need to give you a bit more time, perhaps teachers ought to think about offering slightly different facilities, more time in a library, more time on a computer.

Also, if you are in a caring situation, I know, mobile phones aren’t allowed in schools, but maybe if you needed to be contacted, or if you were really worried about someone, would it be a terrible disaster if you had a mobile phone on in school or had access to it?

So I think teachers need to be flexible, to be understanding. On the other hand I don’t know what you tell your school about caring and the things you do, maybe you tell them everything, maybe you tell them nothing and it might help certain key teachers.

What do you think of the work of the Young Carers project?
When it comes to young people caring its even more important because adults can kind of accept that they have got to care for other people in their families. For children and young people it is different because you can’t escape from what you are doing. You’re probably saving the Government and the Health Authority many millions of pounds over the years and therefore you deserve a lot back in exchange, you deserve opportunities. So I’m really glad the Young Carers Project is here.

How do you think the people of the borough benefit from having the Young Carers Project?
I think they benefit in a lot of different ways. People like me and some of my colleagues know about the Carers Centre and it means that we are able to look really hard at the things that we do. Because you raise issues for us, you put a spotlight on the services that we provide, so that forces us to say "are we really doing this as well as we can, is there something different we can do, is there something better we can do." I talk to my colleagues about it.

People who are being cared for certainly benefit directly, the people that you care for benefit directly and as I have said it takes to pressure off a service. I think it should be recognised better and more by us providing things for young carers.

Do you think the Council should try to give the Young Carers Project more funds?
I guess you think that the next answer is yeah, of course, carrier bags full. But I’m not going to say that, I’ll tell you what, if you bring to the Council some good ideas of what you could be doing next or differently then we ought to look at how it can be resourced. But I don’t think the Council should just give the same amount of money year after year. We’ve got to use some of our money to stimulate new ideas so we should never just automatically give the same or more.

We should also think about looking for money from other places, not just the Council and we should help you to look for money from other places as well.

Interview with Hazel Cameron
(Cared for adult)

Q. In what ways do you think young careers miss out on a normal life?
They seem to have an awful amount of responsibility within the home; they are responsible in a lot of ways where the adult can't do without them. I think they get tied down, although they get some self worth out of it. It is a difficult process for them because they miss out. They've got to do so much in the house that they take on a very responsible attitude and I think they are missing out on other things because of their attitude.

Q. How important is the young carers project to you?
Well initially, when Laura started getting out to the young carers, I thought "oh good I'm getting rid of her for a couple of hours". At that time Laura had major carers in the house, in the home, home helps that were there for three hours a day and the home helps would do just about everything including bathing me. It was somewhere Laura could go where I knew she would be safe, that she was mixing with kids her own age and everybody here had the same background. There was somebody in the house they cared for and just the fact that all the other kids knew what was happening to each other. Its like a best friend, you can tell them things that you wouldn't tell other people, but you only get that at the carers centre. I find that Laura has enjoyed herself so much since she's come here, she's brightened up, and she's got more confident and mouthy. She is taken places you normally couldn't go to, whether the reason is financial or physical, the moving about stuff, mobility, but I think she loves it here and she's made a lot of friends.

Q. How would you cope without the help of a young carer?
Well during the time that I was in the wheelchair I couldn't have been without Laura. If you bear in mind Laura was only 5 when all this got big, it's a lot for a 5-year-old to take on board.

Q. What would make your family's life better?
No longer being registered disabled, being fit enough to get on with it, it is really difficult in a sense that I've almost come full term. I had a stroke, I had a back injury, I was stuck in a wheelchair for yonks, I was out of my head all of the time, but I do things like yoga, meditation and I got off the drugs. I'm clear of them and now I don't even take the pain control. I was more or less addicted to them, but now I guess I am as normal as I would ever be. It is difficult for me because I can't put myself back in that situation. We'd all like a million pounds and a flight to Barbados and a handsome fella, yeah I'd love that but its not going to happen, I'm just thankful that I have got Laura and that we've survived it all.

Interview with Elaine, (Parent of Young Carers)

How do Young Carers get on in school?
It might help the teachers to understand why he comes in tired, why he comes in late, why he hasn’t any enthusiasm for his school work, and why he’s not listening, he’s switching off.. because he’s so stressed and he’s so tired all the time.

What support do young carers get?
I’ll tell you what I’d really like is a social worker to come and live in the environment that I had to live in for 24 hours and change roles with me.

What would help young carers?
Another way is for the carers centre to go on more weekends away, at least they get a break from it. Where I can’t get him out of the house they can have a break.

It’s a great help to have the young carers project in our lives it gives Sade, who's 10, it gives her a chance to mix with other girls and also with children who have cared for someone, so she doesn’t feel singled out or different.

And with Colin who's just reached puberty so he’s 14 and it also gives him somewhere to go and let off steam and talk to adults or other people who understand him and not judge him and not criticise him or laugh at him.

Interview with Kerri Felemenov (Social Worker)

Do you know what a young carer does?
Everything from house work to looking after their parents, feeding their parents, or washing their parents!

What problems do young carers have with friendships?
Goups like this mean that you can relate to other people who are in similar situations and you kind of understand each other a little bit more.

What support do young carers get?
The social workers will have to prioritise the work they do and a lot of the work they do especially in children's services involves a risk to young people and therefore they need to prioritise over how much work they do with each case and often the riskier cases will get the most attention.

Because there's not much available to social workers as well in terms of services for people and what you can offer, so in that respect I think there are limitations.

I think social workers in general will try the best they can to put in place what support they can for young carers. but like I say I think they're limited as well which is very frustrating for people, social workers as well.

What do young carer projects provide?
It gives you space outside of your home space where you might often feel obliged to be doing something or you might be asked to do something.

Interview with Laura Jackson (Community Nurse)

Q. What do you do as a Community Nurse?
My role as a Community Nurse is to work with young people to look at what health problems they may have. We all have health concerns and we all need someone to talk to; we want someone we can go and ask for confidential help and advice.

Q. In your work, what problems do you see young carers facing?
I don't differentiate between young carers and young people. All young people have very different health needs from each other. Concerns around heart disease, smoking, alcohol, mental health they are all the things we hear about. I like to meet with young carers first to actually find out what they want.

Q. What do you do to help young carers in their daily lives?
I have started a young person's drop in centre with some young people from a local housing estate and what we are doing, advertising it as a free service to any young person in Hammersmith & Fulham.

Q. If a carer wanted to speak to you privately do you have special rooms or do you do house calls?
Usually wherever I meet people there is somewhere quiet and confidential and I think that is very important. When sitting in a group people may start to think they would like to talk to confidentially, so I always offer the opportunity to talk to me confidentially. I would welcome any suggestions/ideas from young people, how this would work best for them. I can be contacted at www.yard.org.uk and hit the nurse button!

Interview with Stephen (Cared for adult)

How do Young Carers get on in school?
She’s getting on very well in school in Bournemouth. She’s become positive again towards education, I think in London she was the victim of too much bullying which suppresses ones desire to be a clever person.

What support do young carers get?
Support levels from social services are all depending on funding and the funding is not there as it is in London.

Anything I want from social services they have to make it a charity application and get a charity bid into buy me one little utensil which would be readily provided in London.

What do young carer projects provide?
Well she attends carer sessions once a fortnight. They have a very nice club house at the one community centre where they meet which is very nice and they have activities and outings and so on.

Interview with Sara Hepburn
(Young Carers Project Worker)

What is your job title?
I have 2 job titles. The first and biggest part of my job is as a Young Carers Worker. My second job is Interaction Project Co-ordinator.

What do you do in your job?
The main aim of my job originally was to build a project for young carers, some way to support young carers in the borough. I started by contacting Social Services and parents I knew through the Carers Centre who had children with disabilities and try to make contact with young carers that way. There is a regular group of young carers coming to the centre, both older ones and younger ones my role is mainly to administer and manage the project. I do things like petty cash and planning finances, seeking funding and writing reports.

How do you help young carers?
I help them by providing a listening ear and that the services are there when people want or need them, that they feel they can talk to me or Paula whenever they want to. We help young carers by putting them in touch with other young carers who are in similar positions so they don't feel too isolated. We help them to build confidence, to recognise their role, how valued they are and what special people they are. Also to provide them with a place and activities when they have time off from their caring role.

What do you think young carers need most?
Young carers need the opportunity to be and feel like other young people as much as possible, to have the same opportunities plus the recognition of what they do and what's going on in their lives.

Best thing about your job?
Have fun with a great group of young people.

What don't you like about your job?
The constant pressure, the worry about whether the work can continue through seeking funding. I don't like the lack of security.

Do you enjoy your job?
Yes, immensely. I've had lots of jobs so I know when I've got a good one. I've been a care assistant, an accounts assistant, an insurance clerk, a rep for a holiday company abroad, a car hire agent, I've worked for solicitors.

If you couldn't work for the Young Carers Project what would you like to be?
I'd like to run some sort of foster, respite place for young people in crises.

Are you looking forward to having a kid of your own?
Yes and no, its frightening. But its nice to see all these potential babysitters in front of me [laughs].

Interview with Paula Potton
(Parent of young carers and ex-project worker)

Do you know what a young carer does?
They do lots of housework, they look after themselves a lot of the time where they’d normally have a parent coming around looking after them, they’re often substituting themselves for the parent. Older siblings often look after younger siblings where mother's busy doing the caring, or the father. They just generally have a lot more pressure on them to get on with life... they don’t have the freedom that other children have.

How do Young Carers get on in school?
They’re often late cause there’s something often going on at home and they can’t get out in time. They quiet often don’t get their homework done because they’ve got other things to do at home, or if they need help with their homework the person who could help them is busy doing something for the cared for.

They have to deal with having somebody different in their family and owning up to their friends that, you know, there’s somebody a little odd at home and they don’t want to share that with everybody.

They’re quite often in the poverty bracket because there’s not people working in the house and stuff so they’re not always able to keep up with fashions and things.

What problems do young carers have with friendships?
Some of them get quite isolated cause they don’t get to go out after school, some of them don’t get to go to school even, o some of them suffer from isolation and find it very differcult to interact with their peers.

It’s the stigma around having somebody at home who’s not very well, not having the freedom to go out to the cinema when they feel like it, or to go out and hang around with their friends!

They have to have very very close relationships with somebody before they’ll confide in what things are like at home and stuff!

What support do young carers get?
That varies depending on where you live and what sort of disabilities there are within the household.

Young carers are starting to be noticed but once upon a time they where invisible and people would go and found out what the cared for needed and forget what the carers needed. Nowadays social workers are aware that they have to do an interview with the carers and one of them being the young carers. They are supposed to help them with their school work and supposed to provide social contacts and counselling and things and they should put a package together to ensure that the young carer is getting the extra help it needs, unfortunately it doesn’t always happen that way.

What would help young carers?
One of the gaps is respite support so that the young carers get a break from their caring role. The authorities need to understand what it is like to be a young carer. A lot of people who make the rules and regulations and organise the budgets aren’t carers and have no concept at all of how it affects, how it can be a 24/7 take over of life situation.