Hi Sam!

You have got the important responsibility of running our Young Adult Carers Service (YACS)- you will be giving 1:1 support, organising events and activities and keeping our YACs connected online...

What do you think the challenges are going to be?

For me, the biggest challenge is continuing to build a service that young adult carers want, and feels is helpful and relevant for them. A place where everyone feels a sense of belonging, feels heard and where their views and wishes are valued. I hope they can have opportunities to gain new experiences, explore and achieve their goals, gain skills they need as they move into adult life and have a safe space to have fun and express themselves.

Being only one of me, and so many YACs means I am going to have to manage my time well to provide the mix of 1:1 support, organizing activities and keeping everyone connected. This could mean I might be asking to visit on certain days, so I can cut the travel time down, or providing the option of online support, but I hope we can find a balance that works for all the young adult carers because sadly I haven’t found a way to be in two places at once yet!

What are you most looking forward to?

That’s a hard one as there is so much! I guess the first thing is finding out from as many YACs as possible, what they feel they want from our service. I want to ask them about the things that have been really helpful and enjoyable in the past, the things that didn’t feel quite so good, what might have acted as a barrier to them taking part or wanting to take part in what we have to offer, and ideas on what new face to face and online support, events and activities we could try to make available in the future. I am so lucky to have Lucy working alongside me as Youth Participation Officer, so together our aim is to do this, so if you are a young adult carer keep an eye out for questionnaires and correspondence as we think about how best to get your thoughts and ideas!

The other equally exciting part is meeting the young adult carers , which might be through events, activities, face to face 121s, or online groups and 121s.

What brought you to a role at Gloucestershire Young Carers?

I have worked with young people for many years now, and what is important to me is that young people are at the centre of the work I do and that I can feel I have made a difference.

Seeing young people achieving their goals, realizing their amazing potential and abilities, and offering some fun time for the YACS to enjoy themselves without feeling guilt or worry about their responsibilities.

I believe Gloucestershire Young Carers are a service who hold this close to their heart and working here will allow me the time and space to be able to connect, listen and provide opportunities for All our YACS.

And lastly tell us a bit about yourself?  What do you enjoy doing in your free time.

I particularly enjoy spending time with my family, friends, and my dog! My dog loves nothing more than going out for walks with me and listens to me ramble on when everyone else might have lost interest!

I also like music concerts, I’m rubbish at remembering names, but I have been lucky enough to go to quite a few. I’m not a great cook, but it’s fun to try and brings some laughs along the way; I heard there were Online Cooking Events through the Lockdown, so maybe that might be something our YACS would like to do again, with the added entertainment of my cooking not always turning out like the picture! And finally, being in my garden, I again have been learning how to care for plants, and I love it when I see the plants growing and not wilting!