On Wednesday 15th February, Gloucestershire Young Carers attended the Young Carers National Voice forum in person at the University of Birmingham.

5 young people from GYC had the opportunity to meet up with other Young Carer organisations from all over the country to consolidate their current campaign around mental health and plan the upcoming campaign for this year.

The day started with a talk from Lois, the Young Carers lead at the University of Birmingham, where she explained the support on offer at university for young carers and the different avenues available for them to visit and attend university.

Our Youth Participation Lead, Scott, and young carer, Arthur, presented at the event, helping inform the group on social change and how Young Carers National Voice could be inspired by and use methods from other movements to help to increase its impact.

Those in attendance had fun meeting and playing games with other young carers from all over the country while also working to develop ideas for their campaigning. A letter to be sent to members of parliament was written in addition to working on other methods to raise awareness amongst public and professionals. We also had a look at the new website that they had helped to design which showcases the organisation and what it has achieved so far. www.ycnv.org.uk.

In addition to working on the current campaign, planning began for the new campaign to start in April 2024. The group explored issues currently effecting young carers and addressed different ways they can work together to help combat these issues and make widespread change.

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