We were honoured and delighted that Sir Dusty Miller, High Sheriff of Gloucestershire attended the Our Voice young carers forum this January.   The forum is for 11-18 year old young carers who are interested in using their experience to help other young carers and inform our service.  A key task for the for the group is to spread awareness and we regularly invite guests to the forum so they can help spread the ‘young carer aware’ message across the country and beyond.  It was at the Bishop’s garden party back in summer that we met High Sheriff Dusty Miller and invited him to join us.

At the session, Sir Dusty entertained us with a presentation about his life and achievements, including his time as an Air Marshall in Afghanistan and Sarajevo and his work for charity.  We also found about the history of the role of High Sheriff and what it entails. Young Carers from the forum then shared their own experiences of being a young carer, what support they have received from GYC and how the charity makes a difference to their lives.  A recurring theme from the young carers was the importance of meeting others that share their experiences and knowing that they are not alone.

The rest of the forum session was a chance to have some fun, as we held our postponed Christmas social event – with a festive quiz, biscuit decorating and pass the parcel!  The forum members give their time to GYC to try and make a difference for all young carers so it is important that there are regular social aspects to the sessions and time to de-stress and enjoy themselves. 

After the visit Dusty said "Thanks for inviting me to share a couple of hours with your inspiring young carers during Our Voice. It is a wonderful concept and clearly works extremely well. I genuinely enjoyed spending time with you and your young people who, regardless of, or maybe because of, their difficult home lives are bright and sparky and are set to become really good young adults”.

As Dusty’s tenure as High Sheriff is comes to an end we wish him all the best in his endeavours and look forward to inviting his successor to the forum to become young carer aware!