A new service to support young carers has been commissioned by Northumberland County Council. Carers Northumberland, the local support service for adult carers will be leading on the project.

Anne-Marie Johnstone has been appointed as the Young Carers Support Worker for Northumberland and will be working with other youth and young people’s services across the county to provide individual tailored support for young carers.

The aims of the project are to ensure that children and young people have the support they need to learn, develop, and thrive, to enjoy positive childhoods and to achieve their full potential.

The service uses a whole family approach, which ensures that both children and parents are able to get the support they need, at the right time. By identifying problems early, different services can work more closely together to help prevent a family’s needs escalating and requiring further intervention at a later date.

All young carers will have an assessment of their needs which identifies the level of caring and how this is impacting on their life. A plan will then be developed with the young carer and their family to help support them and enable the young carer to access the same life opportunities as their peers.

Young carers referred to the project will also have access to a Young Carers Active Northumberland card for use in the county’s leisure centres, and a small grants scheme which will offer financial support to young carers to take a break from their caring responsibilities.

Anyone who is working with a family or young person in a caring role who you think could benefit from this project can make a referral here.

If you are a young carer yourself you can find out about the support available here.