Young Carers Voice (YCV) members presented their mental health poster designs to Bristol City Mayor Marvin Rees.
This year, to celebrate Young Carers Awareness Day (25 January 2018) YCV members designed posters on the theme of mental health awareness.
The aim of the posters is to raise awareness of how being a young carer impacts their mental health; and to encourage other young carers that it’s OK to talk about how you feel.
The evidence shows that young carers have worse mental health than their peers:
• The 2011 Census found that young carers providing 50+ hours of care a week were up to five times more likely to report their general health as ‘Not good’.
• A survey of 350 young carers found 48% said being a young carer made them feel stressed.
• A survey of 61 young carers in school found that 38% had mental health problems.
In coming up with their ideas, the young carers thought about how they feel when things become a struggle. The designs are based on their own personal experiences, as well as sharing tips for maintaining good mental health; thinking about what works for them and what might be helpful to share with others.
On 24 January, YCV members were invited to visit City Hall for a tour with Bristol City Mayor Marvin Rees; and they took this opportunity to present their posters to him. YCV members have also been invited by South Gloucestershire Council to display their posters and talk about them as part of Children’s Mental Health Week in February.
We will be sending the posters to local schools, as part of our Young Carers in Schools programme. This will help to raise the profile of young carers, and encourage young carers to contact us if they need help.
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