Surrey Young Carers
If you are a young person, and you help care for someone who has an illness, a disability, or is affected by mental ill-health or alcohol/substance misuse, we can help you. We support children from Year 1 upwards.
As soon as I joined Surrey Young Carers, things started to get easier. Finally, I met other people in the same boat as me, who I could talk through my experiences with, and I have a better social life too. It’s made such a difference.
We can provide support and opportunities to meet – and have fun with – other children and young people in similar positions. And we really understand how these extra responsibilities can affect your daily life, schoolwork and time for friends.
We support young carers all across Surrey and from every type of family. You might be looking after a brother or sister with autism, or a parent with a disability.
We provide a range of support depending on your situation, from activities to provide time out from your caring role and meet children in a similar position, to more intensive groups and tailored one-to-one help, for young carers in a more difficult situation.
My son came home so enthusiastic about the event. It’s such a relief for me to find us not talking any more about my illness, but about nice and good things that can happen to him.
The offer
The level of support offered depends on the individual caring situation – some young people help out a little each week, others do a huge amount and can be in a very difficult situation. So support does vary. However, all young carers registered with SYC:
- Have a welcome event
- Get regular newsletters
- Are invited to a ‘family fun day’ every year
- Can attend our ‘drop ins’ (youth clubs) that take place at venues across Surrey
- Can join our Young Carers Forum, to share your views and help make positive changes to benefit all young carers
- Are invited to a ‘transition event’ to smooth the move from primary to secondary school
- And get support from our friendly, caring and helpful staff – whether that’s individual support staff, or our specialised Education Advisors at school.
We always encourage our registered young carers to get in touch if they are experiencing difficulties, and if their situation changes.
How to refer
A parent, a teacher or someone working with the family can refer a child or young person to Surrey Young Carers (part of Action for Carers Surrey) and apply for our support. We will then assess the child’s situation, to see if we can provide suitable help.
Referral for a carer aged under 18
Get in touch
If you’d like to get in touch with us to find out more about the service and how it can help. Please call us on 01483 568 269, or email [email protected]
What helped me most was talking to others and realising that they’re just like me.
