A day in the life of a young carer

Hi, my names Jenni and I am a young carer. I have been a young carer since the age of 10 and I care for my mum, gran and grandpa.  Being a young carer doesn’t always have to be a negative thing, it can also be a positive. The positive side to being a young carer is that I have gained loads of great skills at such a young age  and have been able to develop those skills as I get older.

Being a young carer can also have its challenges. One of the

biggest challenges for a young carer is school. Having to balance the caring role at home and then having to worry about getting homework done in time and also having to study for tests is alot of pressure on one person and can really affect them mentally. Throughout the school, there are loads of young carers that teachers may not know about, and it ca

n be really hard for someone to explain to their teachers about what goes on outside of school, which can also make it harder to explain to teachers why they are not revising for tests or being able to compete homework for a specific date.

A young carers day to day life can be very busy which can cause school to be more stressful. This can make it hard to concentrate in school as they have to think about what they need to do, when they get home from school or whether or not they need to go the shops to get dinner or some general shopping. Some young carers have the responsibility for looking after their sick family (members) and also having to look after any sibling they may have. As a young carer my day to day life consists of me getting up in the morning, making sure me and my sister are ready and have everything for school, then making sure we get to school on time.

After that I have to go to all my classes and catch up on any homework I have missed or still to be done or any work that has to be done. Then I volunteer at after school clubs which gives me a break from all the school work and home stuff for a while. Then I head home and help around the house and head to my gran to check everything is okay there. Helping around the house consists of helping make dinner, tidying the house up and doing washing. This day to day life is a daily routine for me but its can be different for all young carers, it isn’t all the same. Sometimes it can be a little easier or it can sometimes be double, but regardless of how easy or difficult it is, it’s always a challenge.