Young carers project given further two year contract worth £1.2m

Funding of £1.2m will be given to the innovative care project ‘prevention through partnerships’ to improve local support for young carers and their families.

There are an estimated 139,000 young carers in England, and many more which are hidden from official sight for reasons such as family loyalty, stigma and bullying.

Edward Timpson MP, Minister for Children and Families said: “Young carers demonstrate extraordinary dedication every day for which we cannot thank them enough. I want to let them know that they are not alone.

“The Children’s Society and Carers Trust are already playing a vital part in helping local authorities to tailor their services to provide better support for young carers. I am delighted to announce that we have awarded them a new contract worth £1.2 million over the next two years to continue this good work.”

The funding will allow the next phase of the work to start, and will allow two more years of support for young carers.

Young carer, RJ Dorey, aged 16, who co-chaired the PTP celebration event, said: “The Prevention Through Partnership project has been an amazing success and it’s great that we now have two more years to push forward.

“There is a huge impact on me, being a young carer. We would like authorities to look at the bigger picture, the whole family, and not just one”

The next steps of the programme will focus on supporting the whole family, often from marginalised groups, including children caring for family members with drug and alcohol dependency.

Dr Moira Fraser, Carers Trust policy director, commented: “We are delighted with this announcement. This funding will help us understand better how we can work with whole families to support everyone, including young carers. We need to do this because it is in working better with whole families that services can really help young carers achieve their aspirations and have more of the opportunities other children and young people can expect as a matter of course”

The Children’s Society’s chief executive, Matthew Reed, said: “This million-pound funding boost is amazing news for young carers. It represents a huge vote of confidence in the quality of our work supporting some of the most marginalised and forgotten groups of young people.

At an event to celebrate the work already done by the project, 30 children met with professionals to discuss and debate the achievements of the project. The children co-chaired the event and took an active role in the day.

Mr Reed said: “The government is giving a very clear message that it is recognising the extraordinary work carried out by young carers and the personal sacrifices they make every day to look after their loved ones. Working with our partners, Carers Trust, we can now continue sharing expertise, listening to young people and creating innovative support programmes with young carers, which are critical for children to be able to thrive and enjoy their childhood.”