Surrey Young Carers is a vital support network for young people aged 18 and under from across Surrey, who care emotionally or physically for an adult or sibling with a long term illness or disability.

Carers gain access to:
• Free impartial information and help to minimise the impact of their role
• Workshops, forums and activities to escape to and be themselves.
• Networking opportunities with other carers
• Trips out which they normally can’t afford

The charity promotes the needs of young carers in all child care and adult settings, as well as offering training to health, social care and educational professionals. It is a service of Action for Carers Surrey.

When you see the work of the Surrey Young Carers, you quickly see why we wanted to fund some of their outreach work. The sheer number of children out there giving up their childhood in order to help their siblings or family members who need extra care is heartwarming and sometimes heart wrenching too. This group of children from as young as 4 to 18 sacrifice so much for others and miss out on memories most children and families take for granted.

Surrey Young Carers are there to find these children and give them and their families much needed respite. It allows them to make friends with peers who understand what it is like to care for others in such a passionate way. Children from all over Surrey are brought together and given the opportunity to have downtime and fun. Activity days are a welcome opportunity to relax, make friends and also to learn coping strategies that will help them at home and through life.

We have funded and attended many of these days out and have seen first-hand how important these days are to the carers and their families.

(3 pics one kid climbing wall, one of bunting and one holding a sign)

Once again as budgets are cut and grant funding becomes harder to achieve, more and more charities need support. This team simply refuse to cut back on opportunities for their carer’s and try to fundraise while still doing the day job. We have funded activity days out including the annual Pantomime trip! As well as this, we have organised a number of Christmas parties for age appropriate groups, complete with Santa and his sleigh full of presents!

Last but not least there are a number of workshops that help the carers to gain more knowledge about the conditions their family members live with and how to cope with the feelings that they sometimes bottle up.
Funding a workshop is another satisfying feeling that gives both carers and their families a better chance to understand each other. In the past we have also supplied free room space for one to one counselling sessions, another vital lifeline to youngsters trying to cope with very complex situations beyond their control.

Going the extra mile for this group has been a pleasure, we even hired a cinema to take a group of carers to see Harry Potter and provided sweets and branded glasses for everyone. Meeting these young carers makes you proud of the youth of today; we should hear more about the positives and spread the word that helping others is so rewarding!

Flying the flag and raising awareness for Surrey Young Carers is a privilege.