Young carers

A young carer is a person aged 18 or under who cares, unpaid, for a family member or friend suffering from any of the following:

• A long-term illness/condition
• A physical or learning disability
• A drug or alcohol problem
• A mental health condition.

The support provided by a young carer varies. Still, typically it involves a combination of personal care (such as helping to dress or bathe them), practical care (such as cooking, cleaning, and shopping), and emotional care (such as talking through their concerns with them).

• are you between 6 and 18 years old and living in Waltham Forest?
• do you help look after your parent, carer, or sibling because they are disabled, have emotional or mental health needs or drug/alcohol dependency?
• do you worry about the person you care for?
• does your family have struggles with money, finding work, or getting benefits?
• does your caring role impact your education at school or college?
• does your caring role impact the time you could spend participating in activities and socialising with friends?
• do you feel isolated, or do you feel your caring role makes you different from other young people around you?

We can help you to access:

• whole family support
• clubs and positive activities
• support with education, training, or employment
• school holiday activities
• days out
• residential breaks

We can also support and guide you to specialist support from our partner agencies and organisations if you have specific needs that require specific support.

The Young Carers Programme offers young carers known to the council, access to activities and opportunities, that provide them with respite from their caring role and responsibilities but also the opportunity to engage and benefit from activities they may usually, be unable to access.

Young Carers Club 6 to 18 years. Provided in partnership with Project Zero (term time)

An opportunity to meet up with other young carers and offer a safe space to participate in activities, games, discussions and workshops. Accessible by invite only.

Community transport is provided to pick-up and drop all attendees home. (a referral is required from a named family practitioner and places are offered subject to availability).

Jack Petchey Award

The young carers programme participates annually in the Jack Petchey Award Scheme. Young carers ages 11+ who attend our club are nominated by their peers for the award. 

The successful young carer is presented with a certificate, badge and decides how the £300 award is spent for their club session.  

Workshops/ Training

The young carers programme works with partners and external organisations to provide workshops that engage and encourage young carers to access new experiences and learning opportunities. These workshops are planned to take place during club sessions and school holidays. 

Please speak to your Early Help or Social worker to gain access to these opportunities. (a referral is required from an allocated family practitioner/ social worker, and places are offered subject to availability).

Renaissance Foundation

Renaissance Foundation is a specialist youth charity providing support to young carers and young people with chronic illness, aged between 12 to 16 years old. Their vision is that no young person should be held back because of their caring responsibilities or health condition. 

It’s their mission to empower young carers and patients to develop core skills, prepare for successful transition to adulthood and reach their full potential using world-class inspirational opportunities.

Visit the Renaissance Foundation website 

Make a referral (for allocated Family practitioner/ Social worker to refer young people)

Self-referral for young people to use to refer themselves with consent of parent/guardian

Bespoke offers/workshops 

Targeted opportunities planned around areas of need identified, to help and support young carers to learn, grow and thrive. Available varies times throughout the year, subject to funding. 

Previous offers have included Animation and jewellery making workshops, family tickets to ice skating and Gladiator show, Christmas hamper, Gift vouchers and funding for digital devices and TFL Zip photo cards. (a referral is required from an allocated family practitioner/ social worker)

Day trips

Young carers accessing and attending our club offer will be able to attend fully funded day trips with the programme staff. The trips are normally organised around the Easter and summer holiday periods. 

Trips that are arranged will be planned around the wishes and ideas of the young carers. In the past, young carers have visited theme parks, beaches, cinema and gone out as a group for a meal. 

Residential trips

Young carers accessing and attending our club offer can take part in the Young Carers Festival. The festival takes place over a weekend in June and is organised for young carers from across the UK. 

The festival offers young carers access to a fun and interactive programme filled with diverse and exciting activities for them to participate in.

We make sure that you’re involved and play an active role in all decisions and in choosing the kind of support that you need to achieve your goals.

 We promise to:

• treat you with respect
• ask you directly about the support you need
• give you access to the information we hold about you and your family
• ask your views on the way that the project should involve you and how the project is run
• be sensitive to your culture, ethnicity and religion

If you have any questions or would like to find out how your child can be referred to the young carers programme, get in touch with us.​​​

Email young.carers@walthamforest.gov.uk

If you identify a child or young person in Waltham Forest who may be a young carer that requires additional support, then please obtain consent, before making a referral to MASH. 

Please state you are requesting 'young carers assessment of need' to be completed.

The young carer must be open to either Children Social Care or Early Help Children and Families to access all Young Carers Programme opportunities.

• Early help and support for families
• Online, Phone & In Person Support for Unpaid Carers
• Project Zero WF cic
• Space4All: activities for ages 11 to 25
• Mental health support in Waltham Forest
• Young Carers Leaflet (PDF)

• Young Carers Assessment tool (PDF) - to help identify any new hidden young carers
• Young Carers Review tool (PDF) - to review impact of caring role for young carer already known to services
• Positive and Negative of Caring (PANOC) (Word file) - evidenced based tool to help assess the wellbeing of a young carer
• Pre-carers assessments (Word file) - to be completed with from age of 16 years to explore thoughts and wishes about education, caring role of young carer before they transition into Adult young carer. 

Please contact the programme by emailing young.carers@walthamforest.gov.uk to access the electronic referral form to refer a young carer for access to the club offer.