During Carers Week in June we were invited by Carers Trust to attend a Parliamentary Drop-in for MPs where they could come meet carers organisations and hear directly from carers themselves.
Young Adult Carer Chandra, 17, travelled to Westminster with Development Manager Hana Gill – ready to share her story with those at the very top of decision-making.
Over 100 MPs attended the event over the afternoon – and Chandra was able to talk directly with many of them – including Lord Young, Mel Stride (Secretary of State for Work and Pensions) and Paul Blomfield who heads up the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for young and young adult carers.
Chandra and Hana were able to persuade some of the MPS to sign the pledge developed by Carers Trust, the APPG and Young Carers Alliance, which looks at the key priorities that will create meaningful change.
I will work with my local carer support organisation(s) to champion the needs of young and young adult carers and I will encourage…
1. Local authorities and NHS commissioners to have proactive local strategies to identify and support young carers and young adult carers.
2. Schools, colleges and universities to have a Young Carers Lead/Champion with responsibility for identifying and supporting young carers and student carers.
3. Local authorities to help young carers and young adult carers to realise their statutory rights, have breaks from caring and make successful transitions into adulthood.
4. Local authorities to have a Memorandum of Understanding between relevant agencies and organisations to ensure an integrated whole-family approach to identification and support for young carers and their families.
We are proud that Gloucestershire already has school leads in place and were able to share the impact of this with MPs and encourage them to make this standard practice across the UK.
Development Manager, Hana Gill said: ‘Chandra did an incredible job of sharing her personal story of being identified as a young carer and the challenges she faced at the time and what the support GYC gave meant to her. She also shared with MPs how she has valued the opportunities she has had with GYC to talk directly to those that have the power to make changes and improve things for young carers. She was the only under 18 in the room and was so confident and composed she made quite an impression on those she spoke to.’
We will continue as an organisation to campaign for positive change with and for young carers and were pleased we had this amazing opportunity to go right to the heart of Westminster and tell it like it is!