News | Young carers


downsmail.co.uk Atime to celebrate young carers


YOUNG carers from across theMaidstone areawere treated to pizza and cake to celebrate Young CarersAwareness Day.


Crossroads Care Kent, which has


its offices in Wateringbury, sup- ports about 170 children aged five to 18, who try to lead normal lives while helping to care for their par- ents or their siblings at home. The group is now in its 14th year,


yet many people in Maidstone know nothing of its existence or of the work that these young people have to do. The charity relies entirely on do- nations, so an injection of cash from Children in Need was much appreciated, as were donations from Maidstone and Riverside Ro- tary Clubs, Help a Maidstone Child, Kent Community Founda- tion and a whole host of other indi-


viduals and groups. It costs about £85,000 a year to


run six groups per month and or- ganise outings and weekend camps. Most ses-


Jan Hall


sions are held at the Shep- way Youth Centre, with a group for those aged from12to17 at Senacre


Skills Centre on the first Wednes- day of the month. The costs have risen this year. With KCC cutting back on the use


of the young person’s travel pass, many members now need a taxi or volunteer driver to get them to and from the group. Project manager Jan Hall said: “Some families are very isolated and the children feel ashamed or embarrassed to admit what life is like at home. Here they are among their peers and with people who share the same pressures, anxieties and problems.” Many of the young carers are re-


ferred to the group by social serv- ices or schools and sometimes by their GPs or mental health teams. Other times, they self-refer. There is currently a waiting list of 60 young people who want to join.


Jan said: “Some of these children


are amazingly resilient, but we are able to help them cope with stress and depression and introduce them to other support networks.” As well as the regular club nights, Crossroads Care organises trips to soft play centres, the cin- ema and theatre, and puts the chil- dren in touch with other groups who might be able to help with free advice and counselling, such as Childline and Nacoa, the na- tional association for children of al- coholics. Babble and Matter are two other


online forums where the children can share their experiences and ac- cess trusted support.


Caring sons get help from their Pal


CLAIRE Pearson owes her life to her two young carers – and a black Labrador called Pal. Jake (20) and Jed (17) have been looking after their mother for most of their young lives. As pupils at Hollingbourne Pri-


How George


lends a hand GEORGE (six) tugged at the heart- strings of the nation when he ap- peared as part of the BBC Children in Need programme in November. The Maidstone youngster, who


attends the five to seven-year age group on the third Wednesday of each month, acts as his mother Ju- dith’s left arm and leg, after she suffered a massive stroke leaving her partially paralysed. He helps her get dressed and as-


sists with a range of household chores, including cooking, as she only has the use of one arm. Although he is one of the


younger members of the group, his story is not unusual.


mary School, they were well used to coming home and finding mum, who is diabetic, collapsed in a heap on the floor, having a “hypo” at- tack.


One would call the ambulance,


while the other would make sure shewas comfortable and safe. A hypo (hypoglycaemia) occurs when a person’s blood glucose


SAOIRSE (12), from Snodland, loves the time she spends with Crossroads Care.


verely autistic and suffers


Her brother is se- from


ADHD, so time at home can often be a battle ground. Aged nine, he is unable to speak


and still wears nappies. He often lashes out and will bite or punch


level drops too low, and for Claire this can come on without anywarn- ing.


The boys gained a new lease of


life when Pal joined the family four years ago. Pal is a hypo alert dog who has


been trained to smell when Claire could collapse and summon help. That can mean anything from


him licking the boys’ hands or pawing at their legs to jumping on them in the middle of the night to wake them up. Unfortunately, Pal’s arrival coin-


cided with Claire’s husband Steve developing MS, putting an end to


during his “meltdown” moments and needs medication to sleep. Saoirse helps her mum by run-


ning errands to the shop and doing jobs around the house when she is pre-occupied with tending to him and their three- month-old sister. Saoirse said: “I like coming to


the group. I don’t have to explain myself to anybody. It’s a chance to get out of the house and make new friends.”


Working together to help parents


BECKY (18) has been caring for her mother from a very young age. Her mother developed type 1 di-


abetes shortly after giving birth, while her father now has progres- sive nerve damage to the base of his spine after an operation caused by a bad accident eight years ago. Both parents, who live in Barming, have other complex needs, with the mother recently undergoing open- heart surgery.


10 Malling March 2016 Becky found her old school less


than sympatheticwhenshe needed to miss lessons to help at home, but now finds the staff at Mid Kent College, where she is studying inte- rior design, to be more understanding.


Her sister Sophie, 16, is also a


carer and attends the college. Their timetables – Becky is in onMonday


and Tuesday and Sophie on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – mean someone is always at home. Although Becky is now too old


for the group, she has stayed on as a volunteer. She said:“Mumis in a lot of pain and Dad is quite big, so not easy to lift. Coming to the group gets us both out of the house for a few hours. The group has been brilliant formeandnowI can help give something back.”


his career as a lorry driver. He too is now dependent on help and sup- port at home. Claire said: “We can’t thank


Young Carers enough. They are al- ways here for the boys and for us as a family. There is always someone at the end of the phone, to help us find things out or simply to listen. “A lot of schools have no idea


about what young carers have to do.


“These sessions give the kids a chance to be themselves for a while and to get some form of release from the responsibilities they face at home.”


A respite from home stresses Twins’ bond


KATY (16) from Shepway has never known a life without caring. Her twin brother is autistic and, as a pre-school child, she was the only one who could understand him. Only recently


have they been apart for any pe- riod of time – Katy at Maidstone Girls Grammar School and Adam


at Mid Kent College, where he is studying to be an engineer. Katy’s life revolved around her brother and it never entered her head to go out and leave him. She has been part of the Young


Carers project for more than 10 years and said: “I never considered going out really, but everyone here has been very supportive and made me realise my life doesn’t have to revolve around my brother.” Katy hopes to go to university in


China. She said: “Coming here has really helped with my confidence.”


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