Young Carers

If you are aged 17 or under and look after someone with a physical or mental health problem, you might not think of yourself as a carer but you probably are. We provide free support and wellbeing services to unpaid carers, including young people with caring responsibilities – to register your child as a young carer please email youngcarers@harrowcarers.org

Who is a Young Carer?

You might not realise it, as you are just doing what you do for a family member, but you are known as a carer.

A young carer is someone under 18 who helps look after someone in their family, such as a sibling or parent, or friend, who

has a long-term illness such as cancer,
is disabled,
has a learning disability or neurological condition such as being on the autism spectrum or having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),
has mental health issues, or
are addicted to drugs or alcohol.

There are almost 150,000 young carers across England and Wales who are caring for over 50 hours each week, including over 3,000 aged 5 to 9 years (Carers Week Report 2024)

What do you do to look after them?

These are the types of tasks you undertake which make you a carer:

Helping with cooking, cleaning and shopping.
Helping with physical care, such as helping someone out of bed.
Emotional support, including talking to someone who is distressed.
Helping to manage the family budget or collect prescriptions.
Personal care, such as helping someone dress.
Helping to give medicine.
Helping someone communicate.

If you are unsure whether or not you are a young carer it might be a good idea to show this page to a trusted adult, maybe at your school. Then ask them to drop us a message using the form below and we will be in touch.

A young carer might have a sibling with a disability, a parent with cancer needing help after chemo, or a parent with mental health issues who needs cheering up. They might care for both a parent and a sibling, or look after a grandparent after school. Responsibilities could include managing medication, reading, signing for the deaf, or shopping. It’s not about how much or how often you help, but about the care you provide. At Harrow Young Carers, everyone is equal because we all care for the people we love.

How we support our Young Carers

All services and activities are free for young carers 17 years of age or younger:

We offer drop-ins at schools, helping your school understand about your role as a young carer and providing practical support and advice in a confidential environment
We offer monthly outings, activities and educational events to give you a break from your caring role and introduce you to other young carers who may be going through something similar
During half-term breaks and summer holidays, we offer residential trips, fun activities and educational events.
1 to 1 support according to your need
We offer family support including home visits where appropriate

And much more…

If you feel you are a young carer call us on 0208 868 5224 (ext. 226). Alternatively, email us at youngcarers@harrowcarers.org
Follow us on Instagram: @Harrow.YoungCarers for updates and pictures from events!

View our Child Safeguarding Policy

Why not check our events?

Every season we update our programme to include new events and activities for young carers to participate in. From tuition session to day trips we have a variety of things for young carers to pick from to improve skills, socialise and most importantly relieve stress from day to day life. Please email youngcarers@harrowcarers.org for updated schedule.