An Interview with Dux who works with young carers

Josh is a young carer who lives in Powys, Wales. He interviewed his team leader Dux especially for YCNet. Dux talks all about why he works with young carers and explains what happens at the Powys Centre he works at.

What goes on at young carers’ services?

"Well josh… I would imagine that some young carers groups in different areas do different things… here in Powys we try to offer a mix of things that young carers have told us they want, things like trips out during the holidays, or help with filling in forms – this year we have taken groups of young carers to Waterworld (a big aqaupark) in stoke, we’ve visited the circus and been ice skating too, we’ve been horseriding and to the beach as well… we’ve also done quite a few overnight camps in the woods – these have been great, sitting by a fire and whittling sticks, cooking food and making dens, over 30 young carers have enjoyed these camping adventures… here in Powys we also run fortnightly clubs over school termtime, in the bigger towns – these are like informal youthclubs where we hang out and do funky stuff, most of our clubs attract about 12-15 young carers each time – they tell us that they enjoy relaxing and sharing time with other carers – we sometimes organize activities at these clubs but most weeks we just hang about playing games and chatting…

"Another thing that we do is to offer support to individual young carers – sometimes it can be quite hard for young carers either at home or in school… our outreach workers are really good listeners and they can help young carers to deal with difficult things… we can sometimes find small grants to pay for things like swimming lessons or new shoes… in the past we have been into schools to talk to teachers about young carers and to try and explain why things are sometimes difficult for young carers… we can also help families to deal with social services or the police or other things – this is called advocacy.

"Our outreach workers will always listen to young carers and try to help out in any way which is needed, last week one of our workers helped a young carer to fix up a bike so that he can do his paper round… if you don’t ask you’ll never know!!!"

What happens if my parent doesn’t think I am a young carer?

"That’s a good question Josh… quite a few young carers have told us that their parents don’t recognize their own children as carers, maybe this is because they don’t want the world to view them in a certain way… when we register you, or anyone else, as a young carer we try to make sure that we get a good ‘picture’ of your life… its never going to be a complete picture but by asking you questions about what you do at home we try to find out if you are a young carer… some people think that you are only a young carer is you do physical things like cooking and washing or shopping, we, PCS, think that there are many other ways in which young carers support family members or friends...

"If we register you it is very likely that we will have been to your home to do this, we think that it is good to get the family involved BUT we can work with young carers who need our support, even if the parents are against it. There are certain things that we cant do without your parents support – for instance we can’t take you away on trips and suchlike… our workers are very good at explaining ‘what we do’ to parents and to re-assure parents ( and young carers too ) that we are confidential ( which means safe ) and that we can be trusted. One family a while ago thought that we ‘Powys Young Carers’ took young people into care and that we break families up – that is definitely not what we do – in fact we work really hard to make sure that families can stay together and that these families get all the support that they need to do this…

"If you wanted to come to one of our clubs or talk to one of our outreach workers we would try very very hard to make sure that this was possible and to overcome any barriers which were in the way…"

How much do I have to tell the other young people about my family situation?

"You can tell them as much or as little as you want to Josh… at our groups you will find that the young carers are from all sorts of family situations – some care for brothers or sisters with things like autism, others care for someone at home who uses a wheelchair, others care for parents who have things like depression… we try to find time for these young carers to talk about how they are getting on and many choose to do this (and value the opportunity to talk without being judged), some don’t choose to talk about their life and just come along to relax and have a bit of ‘timeout’… we never force anyone to say anything about themselves, that’s not our way – its always a choice…"

Are the people there social workers?

"We work independently from all other services although we often work with other services – does that sound confusing? What I mean is that we work to support young carers and this sometimes means that we have meetings with social workers or teachers etc.. We are not social workers however and Powys Carers Service is an independent charity. Social workers often refer young carers to us because they know that we offer a great service, they (social workers) are happy to know that we work with families and that we do so as independent workers – we don’t have to share what we know about you and your family (unless there are unsafe things, if we think that you or someone else in your home is not safe we MUST NOT keep that to ourselves – we will always talk to you about anything that we do)."

Do I have to pay to go to one?

"All of our clubs are free and we also offer transport to those who need it, most of our trips are also free (if it’s a big trip we sometimes ask for a contribution, we don’t insist on this though and we would never not let you, or anyone else come on a trip because you cant afford it) Two years ago we talk four young carers for a weeks ski-ing in France and we only charged them £50 because we got a grant to cover the costs. We know that many young carers live in homes where money can be a bit tight – we never let this be a problem and do whatever we can to enable you to join in on our activities…"

How do I go to one when I have to stay at home to look after my mum / brother etc?

"We recognise that its very important for young carers to have regular time-out for themselves, a time to relax, enjoy themselves and maybe try some new activities… this is something that you and other young carers need and is also something that you have a ‘Right’ to expect… If you want to come to a club or go on a trip with us we will try to make sure that you can do so… if this means that somebody else needs to cover you – ie be there instead of you, we will make sure that arrangements are made to support this. Young Carers and their families are entitled to support from the world around them. Many young carers carry out many hours of care and support for someone that they love – this shouldn’t mean that they miss out on things that other young people take for granted…

"Any more questions Josh?"

Why do you do what you do?

"That is a good question Josh and I think it has quite a simple answer – I do what I do because I think its important (as well as enjoyable, rewarding and interesting) I feel honoured to share time with all young people as they are usually full of fresh ideas and energy. I really enjoy working with young carers because, and I say this without exception, they are amazing. Some of them put up with really difficult situations and get on with stuff that other people cant even imagine. Anything that I can do to support these amazing young carers I will and indeed do – it’s a varied job which features both smiles and tears, laughter and rage… its always changing and I love it..."