Young Carers Activities

Portsmouth Young Carers Project provide a number of services to support young carers.

Young Carers Saturday Group

A group for young carers aged from eight to 14, the Saturday group is held every week at the John Pounds Centre in Portsea. With arts and crafts, cooking, games, sports and internet access the aim of the group is to provide a fun, safe environment where young carers can leave behind thier caring responsibilities and, for a couple of hours at least, be children.

Monday Club

A group for young carers aged 14+, Monday club is a youth club environment where young carers can come along and just hang out, chat and speak to trained workers about their issues and problems. Held at the Carers Centre the group has access to all the facilities including the kitchen, games consoles as well as arts and crafts and even a drumkit.

Support in School

Portsmouth has a dedicated young carers in education worker whose job is to work alongside schools to help them understand the needs of young carers and support them better. To date we now have a dedicated lead teacher in every secondary school for young carers and a number of schools have establishedtheir own young carers groups.

Holiday Activities

As well as the weekly support groups the young carers project also put on a comprehensive range of holiday activities for young carers. This includes trips out to the cinema or bowling, visits to museums and wildlife parks and activities at the carers centre to provide valuiable respite for young people whose school holidays can mean even more pressure on them to take on extra caring responsibilities.

Young Carers Festival

The Young Carers Festival is an annual celebration of young carers, bringing together over 1500 young carers from across the country. Held at Fairthorne Manor in Hampshire this fabulous weekend provides a wonderful opportunity to meet other young carers, make friendships and generally enjoy themselves. Climbing, football tournaments, canoeing, arts and crafts and a silent disco are among the activities on offer to give young carers a truly memorable weekend away.