In three weeks time, the Carers Plus Yorkshire team will be joining the rest of the nation and will be digging out their Pudsey onesies, headbands, t shirts and hoodies for Children In Need day 2021.
We are incredibly grateful to Pudsey, Blush and The Children In Need team, as they have been providing Carers Plus with funding for the Starfish project for a number of years. The Starfish project provides Young Carers with 1:1 support and a range of targeted activities as they look to balance their education, friendships, interests alongside their caring role. The project focuses on reducing the impact of care and is tailored to their individual needs. Often we look to support the development of a range of personal skills such as confidence, self-esteem, resilience and relationship building. Bringing young carers together is a wonderful way to allow young carers to see they are not alone, it offers them an opportunity to share, learn and laugh with other like-minded young people and often gives them some respite from their daily routines.
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Sarah’s story below highlights the true impact that Children In Need funded projects, such as Starfish, have on Young People:
Sarah was doing OK when she came into service with us - she had good days and bad days but she knew that her sister wasn’t going to get any better, so she had to keep strong for her mum and dad - keeping her head above water was what Sarah considered to be ‘OK’. Starfish (our Children in Need project) has, in her words, ‘changed her life’ - the project helped Sarah to see life for what it is, it helped her to build the skills she needed to ‘beat the bad days’ and to find some space and value in her own life in order to develop the things important to her without upsetting the caring responsibilities she had at home. Sarah’s Mum summed it up in one simple phrase ‘Thank you’ - we know that the family as a unit are now stronger, feel more able to communicate and understand what makes them all tick with regards to how the household works. Life is always going to be a bit different for Sarah, but we have now helped her embrace it, be proud of it and ‘own it’.
Ahead of Children in Need day on the 19th November, we are delighted to share Sarah’s story and this year’s promotional video put together by the national Children in Need team, in the hope of raising awareness of the invaluable work CiN do around the UK. A huge thank you from Sarah, our Carers Plus team and everyone who support Children in Need in one way or another.
