To mark Young Carers Awareness Day (YCAD) Bromley Well are calling on local schools and colleges to help raise awareness of young carers and make sure they’re supported to achieve their potential.
Across the UK, as many as one in five children and young people are young carers and only half of them have a particular person in school who recognises that they are a carer and supports them.
YCAD takes place on January 30 and the Bromley Well team will be visiting several local schools, including Chislehurst School, Darrick Wood School and Charles Darwin School, to talk to staff and pupils in an effort to raise awareness about the challenges faced by young carers.
Matt Vollar, young carers co-ordinator at Bromley Well, said: “Thanks so much to the staff for inviting us and for recognising and supporting this important issue. We know that when children and young people are spending a lot of time and energy caring for a loved one this can have a negative impact on their education.
“We’re encouraging all Bromley schools to recognise young carers as a vulnerable group of learners and try to do more to identify them earlier and help them get the support they need.”
A young carer is someone under 19 who helps look after someone in their family, or a friend, who is ill, disabled or misuses drugs or alcohol.
Bromley Well launched in October 2017 to help people living in Bromley borough to improve and maintain their health and wellbeing. The service is paid for by Bromley Council and Bromley NHS Clinical Commissioning Group.