Author: GYC

Since 1993 Gloucestershire Young Carers has been supporting young carers across the county, from humble beginnings with just 5 young carers in a café in Stroud to a 26 strong team supporting over 1000 young carers across the entire county!

We’d love you to fundraise for us to help celebrate our exciting 30th anniversary which begins in September. Take a look, chat with friends, family and colleagues and choose a 30 for 30 challenge and join us in marking this important milestone year. Help us celebrate our 30th anniversary by taking on one of our 30 for 30 challenges or by creating your own and raise vital funds to enable us to be there for the next 30 years and beyond… Find out more here

Last month we were joined by 24 young and young adult carers for our bespoke education and careers fair YAC FUTURES 2023, at SkillZone, Gloucester. This year we prioritised those from Year 11, sixth form and college alongside others who were needing direction within education or future careers.  

After ‘CV writing’ and ‘confidence building’ workshops in the morning the delegates enjoyed a buffet lunch alongside a chance to talk to representatives from local support organisations at our pop-up street of stands.

They then headed into an afternoon of Speed Networking – this two-hour session saw the young people test out their new interviewing skills on ten local businesses and employers. They were able to find out more about career pathways and the realities of work life from NHS, Police, Fire Services, Retail, Travel, IT Services, Events & Fitness, Funeral Directors, Law, and Social Media.  

GYC staff and the professionals that attended were so impressed with the maturity, enthusiasm, engagement, interest, and commitment that the young and young adult carers showed throughout the day.  

We had excellent feedback from the young and young adult carers that attended – when asked what they enjoyed most about the day.  

“Looking at all the different job opportunities” 

“Being able to speak to lots of people and consider my next steps in my career path” 

“I loved how supportive everyone was and how they actually cared about us “    

Other things that they enjoyed were “meeting other people”, one attendee described how “I came out feeling happy that I had met a new friend in the taxi”.

The generosity of our business and corporate supporters made the event a real success. They also gave good feedback.  “Venue great, food lovely and nice to meet the other businesses and talk to the young people”.  The event was “fun, eye opening and rewarding”.  Reflections on GYC “a fantastic charity that needs all the support it can get’. 

We would like to give a special thanks to Gloucester Rotary Club, The Midcounties Co-operative and Alexander Burn Funeral Directors for their funding and support for this event, and also our fabulous volunteers Pam and Ros.  

We are really pleased to welcome Clover Lake to the GYC team as Education Development Officer. Clover will take over from Rebecca Bryan who has done a great job in this role over the past year and has moved across the team to a full-time role as a Keyworker. Thankfully she has been on hand to help Clover settle in and learn all about our work with schools and other education settings.  

We asked Clover a few questions to get to know her… 

What interested you about working at GYC? 

Partly because I love a good cause which keeps me motivated in my work and I also enjoy the diversity of working for a charity with the variety of work and locations, such as working in the office, in schools and at other events. 

What was it about the role of Education Development Officer that attracted you?  

The education role specifically stood out to me as I have always worked with young people and in education settings so I know that getting the message out this way and creating strong relationships with the schools locally is how we will find the young people that really need the support. 

What are you looking forward to the most about working at GYC? 

I look forward to meeting the young carers and hearing the impact the Charity have had on them and their lives. 

Do you have any pets? 

Yes – I have a house rabbit called Biscuit. She is my personal assistant when working from home. 

What is your dream holiday destination? 

This can change weekly but at the moment I am quite keen on the idea of Hawaii….. 

If you would like to know more about our work with schools or would like to know how your school might better support young carers please get in touch with Clover Lake – 01452 733060 clover@glosyoungcarers.org.uk

We were absolutely delighted to see the first school take part in our new fundraising campaign Wear To Care which has been launched ahead of our 30^th anniversary year which starts in September.

We were very impressed with the efforts and creativity that went into a fantastic array of G, Y and C from Greatfield Park School in Cheltenham, which asked pupils to donate £1 to our charity which is close to their hearts.  We were amazed to see a green young crocodile, cats, Cruella, glasses, glitter, green yoda, guinea pigs, colourful and camouflaged, goalies, gamers and lots of green and yellow.

So fantastic to see everyone having such fun whilst fundraising for GYC.  Thank you so much to all the children, staff and parents for helping to support the “young” in young carer.

If your school would like to join in the fun in the lead up to our 30^th anniversary get in touch today and find out more here

We are delighted to have our first Community Ambassador out and about spreading the word about GYC to community groups across the county. Annie shares with us her experience of the first talk to a local Women’s Institute group…

“My first trip out as Community Ambassador for Young Carers I will not deny was quite nerve wracking. However, the wonderful group of women at Dursley WI soon made me feel welcome and at my ease. There was a moment when I thought that I couldn’t connect to the internet for the PowerPoint presentation.  I desperately tried to think of a way of speaking without the slides but thankfully all was resolved in time and the presentation went smoothly. The reaction of the group to the work that Young Carers provide was very positive and I felt that my presentation gave a great insight into the challenges that many young carers face but also their strengths and how GYC supports them.

The things that I learnt from my first effort was be calm, the group have invited you here so they are keen to listen to what you have to say, and always check on google maps where you are going!”

Annie

“Well done, Annie, we are so grateful for the time you are giving to help make a difference in the lives of young carers by raising awareness through your talks to encourage support for GYC.  Sue – Volunteer Co-ordinator.”

If you would like to find out more about the Community Ambassador volunteer role, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator Sue by emailing mail@glosyoungcarers.org.uk or find out more on our website volunteer page here

A day of drama and fun was held in the Easter holidays at the Pavilion, Cheltenham for 19 young carers aged between 8-15 years old.

An exciting and a fulfilling day, led by Inclusion Gloucestershire, young carers teamed up in small groups to produce their own scenes to act out to the rest of the groups. They portrayed the concept of what they can do now leading to what they can do in the future, enabling them to make creative imaginative drama, and learning how music and speech techniques can enhance their work to an audience. Imaginative and creative scenes were created from dreams of being a famous football player, travelling with friends and winning an award for being the kindest human being on the planet, were all showcased by our young carers. We had time to socialise and get to know each other better at lunch time with much laughter and chatter!

Young carers said that the day had brought them together,  they felt connected with others, increased their confidence and was fun.

“I really enjoyed today my favourite part was jumping around while my partner made different sounds.” Thank you to Inclusion Gloucestershire for an innovative and insightful experience for young carers.

GYC has been working with the London School of Economics (LSE) for the last two years on a research study looking into what support young carers need and the barriers they might have in accessing it.   

Gloucestershire Young Carers is one of four young carers organisations in four localities across the UK who have been working with the LSE to run focus groups, recruit people to take part in the research, and support young carers who have acted as advisors to the research project over the last two years. 

The findings of the research were revealed at a multi-stakeholder event held at Blackfriars, Gloucester on 30^th March. This event included young and young adult carers, parents who had been involved in research, GYC staff, trustees and representatives from health, education, social care and carer organisations.  

We heard from LSE researcher Nicola Brimblecombe on the findings which were then brought to life by young carers from our forums who presented on the research findings that meant most to them and why this was.  

Young Carer Samuel, 10, talked about the ‘importance of social connection’ for young carers and what he had gained from meeting other young carers like himself since being identified a year ago.  

Yusraa, 19 selected the finding ‘someone available they trust to talk to’ and explained the importance of  young carers being able to talk through the emotions and worries they have with a trusted adult that has time to listen. 

Evie, 13, relayed how crucial having ‘fun activities and respite’ is for young carers.  She said ‘fun is important as we benefit happiness from it – if we experience happiness, it lifts our mood and spirits. This is especially true for young carers who don’t have much free time and chances just be children like those around us’. 

It was very powerful to hear directly from young carers about their lives and the things that had helped them.  Everyone at the event then looked together at the findings of this research and how we can best use them to help inspire and shape the future of young carers support in the county.    

For more information about the research study please contact Nicola Brimblecombe, Lead Investigator, n.s.brimblecombe@lse.ac.uk 

What amazing engagement we had during the week of Young Carer Action Day (March 15^th).  Members of the GYC team pitched in to go out and about visiting schools and colleges across the county from the Cotswolds to the Forest of Dean and everywhere in between.   We were very proud to have achieved 40 stops on our tour!  

GYC ensures that there is a young carers lead in all schools in the county.  This is an appointed member of staff who shares information with GYC, knows who the young carers are in the school and takes a lead on young carer support and identification.   

Our schools tour was a great opportunity to meet these hard-working school staff face to face and celebrate the work they do to make sure that young carers are recognised and supported.   We were also able to tell them about the tools and resources that GYC has to help and support them – from assemblies to staff training.  In all schools we also delivered a pack of posters and resources to enable school staff update or create a young carer display – keeping up the visibility of young carers each school.  

In some of the schools we were happy to have the opportunity to meet with groups of young carers –  we were able to chat with them about both the positives and challenges of being a young carer about what kind of support in school is helpful and appropriate. Everyone was also able to enjoy a delicious snack pack of goodies whilst they chatted.  

We are proud of our partnership work with schools in the county and we know that when young carers feel understood and supported in school this can make a significant difference their lives.  

Are you a thrill-seeker looking to take on a challenge and raise money for Gloucestershire Young Carers in 2023? We have just the thing! Book an exhilarating skydive today – freefall from 10,000 feet reaching speeds of up to 125mph before the parachute opens and you gently glide back down to earth. It will be an experience you’ll never forget!

Join #TeamGYC for our group skydives on either 29^th April, 16 July or 17 September there are 10 spaces available on each date and we expect it to be very popular so don’t delay in booking if you are interested. You will arrive at the Salisbury jump site and meet others taking on the charity skydive for our charity. We will support you on the day to help steady any nerves and celebrate your bravery.

Book your jump today with a deposit of just £70! https://booking.skylineevents.co.uk/?add=622&charity=98081&siteID=50&referrer=charity  You must commit to raising a minimum of £395 to cover your jump costs, booking fee and a minimum donation of £125 to GYC. The more you raise the more we receive so reach for the sky! You will find it easy to get sponsorship for a skydive as everyone marvels at your bravery but our Fundraising Team will be on hand to help you reach your target by the date of your jump.

Can’t make it on those dates? You can book an individual skydive at any point in the year – just select a different date when you sign up on the Skyline website or talk to our Fundraising Team today.