WIREDGOV

While most young people are now embarking on fun-filled school summer holidays, thousands of young carers are about to spend their break looking after a relative suffering from a disability or long-term illness.

Youth in Focus, a new £30 million England-wide funding programme launched today by the Big Lottery Fund, will provide vital support for young carers as well as other vulnerable groups – young people leaving youth offending institutions and young people leaving care.

The multi-million pound funding initiative will support projects that give these young people a voice and help them to access the advice and services that can support their day-to-day lives.

There are currently 175,000 known young carers across the UK who look after a family member or loved one suffering from physical or mental illness, though it is thought there are thousands more hidden young carers. As well as directly caring for their relative, young carers are often also responsible for day-to-day chores from cleaning to food shopping.  

Jenny* from Southampton, now in her early 20s, grew up helping her mum to cope with her younger brother, who suffered from learning difficulties and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and also her drug and alcohol-dependent father.

“The situation had a huge effect on my mum who was depressed, had very low self-esteem and felt out of control all of the time,” Jenny says. “She was not only trying to get my brother into school, look after him, she also had the issue of my dad who would get violent when he was drunk or high.

“Growing up, I just thought that was normal. It was just my brother and my dad. I knew that family life was hard and different to my friends, but I didn’t see myself as a young carer.

“We really struggled financially – mum was rubbish with money and my dad was taking our money all the time to fund his habits. Mum could only work part-time jobs because when working full-time she was always getting called out of work. I used to help her fill in benefit forms, work out how much money we had and how much the bills were. I learned to cook from a really young age and even cooked Christmas dinner when I was seven.

“I always put my needs aside because I wanted to help my mum so much. We were very close and she would tell me everything. She was really isolated, so I was her only outlet. I helped with the housework – I would even go to work with her to help her. It didn’t matter what it was, I would do everything I possibly could – shopping, working out what meals we would have. She didn’t have the space in her brain to comprehend all that day-to-day stuff because she had so much else going on.

“I was basically the head of my family, always the strong person. I didn’t realise what the impact was. It all came to a head when I was 18 and I had a massive breakdown. I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, and I was in a really bad way. I couldn’t continue my university course.”

Jenny now helps run a young carers project at Hampshire charity One Community Eastleigh. The project, which is funded by the Big Lottery Fund, provides young carers with much-needed respite including days out, weekly club nights and residential breaks.

“I always strived to do the best I possibly could because I wanted to get myself out of the situation I was in at home,” Jenny says. “I always wanted to be better and do better than my family. It can go two ways when you’re a young carer, you can either get entrenched in it and it becomes your life, or you can try to rise above it – that’s what I always tried to do.

“I lacked confidence, but if I’d had a project like this to go to where I could just talk, where no one would judge me and where it wouldn’t have got back to my family, I think it would have really helped me. It would have probably prevented me from having a breakdown.”

Sanjay Dighe, Chair of BIG’s England Committee, said: “The funding we’re announcing today will help thousands of young people across England who are experiencing some very difficult circumstances and lack the normal support from families and friends that other young people receive. We want to fund projects that will offer support, improve these young people’s self-confidence and offer practical solutions for the challenges they face.  We want our funding to help these young people make positive life transitions, helping them to lead active and fulfilling lives.”

The programme also aims to support young people leaving care between the ages of 15 and 25, so they get better access to education, housing, healthcare and employment advice and services. Young people leaving youth offenders institutions between the ages of 15 and 25 will also be supported to develop their life skills and get better access to services, particularly young men with learning difficulties and young women.

Organisations interested in applying for Youth in Focus funding should visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/prog_youth_focus for more information and to register to attend one of our regional briefing events being held throughout September.

Further information

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888

Out of hours contact: 07867 500 572

Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030

Textphone:  0845 6021 659

Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on this website.

Notes to Editors

*name changed to protect identity

• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out half the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since June 2004. The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £24 billion has now been raised and more than 330,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.