On Wednesday 12^th March, a group of young and young adult carers travelled to Westminster to celebrate Young Carers Action Day (YCAD) with MP’s and other young carers from around the country.  

The group started the day with a tour of Parliament, exploring the historic building, and meeting a couple of Lords, including Lord Attlee, Grandson on former prime minister Clement Atlee, and Baroness Smith, Leader of the House of Lords.  

Following the tour, the young people joined young carers, MPs and key decision makers on the YCAD bus, a double decker bus adorned with key messages about young carers. The young people spoke with Chris Vince MP, Chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for young carers, Layla Moran MP, Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, Dame Rachel De Souza, the Children Commissioner for England and other members of the department for health and social care and education. They discussed the key issues facing young and young adult carers, shared their personal experiences and explained how the government can support them and their families going forward.  

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To conclude the day, the APPG for Young Carers held a drop in where MP’s could come and speak to young and young adult carers and sign the Young Carers Covenant, a pledge to supporting young carers in their constituencies. The group met with their local MP’s; Alex Mcintyre, MP for Gloucester, Cameron Thomas, MP for Tewksbury, and Max Wilkinson, MP for Cheltenham. They spoke candidly about their experiences and the issues they are currently facing in school and their personal lives and the impact their caring role is having day-to-day.  

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In addition, the group were interviewed by national media and also displayed a banner made by other young adult carers in Gloucestershire around key parliamentary departments and even off the top of the YCAD bus.  

Finally they received a tour of London, seeing the London Eye, Big Ben, China Town and more.

Hana Gill, Director of Development and Engagement said: "Its brilliant to witness the voices of young carers being heard at the heart of Westminster - we hope this leads to progress and changes to policy and practice across the UK"

Scott Bailey-Locke, Youth Participation Lead said: “The significance of days like this cannot be overstated, both for the cause of young carers and for the young people themselves. Their influence today has already led to their local MPs committing to supporting young carers by signing the Young Carers Covenant and arranging to meet them and others in the county to further discuss how they can support them in their constituency. I am sure this will be a day none of them every forget.”  

Kristian, one of the young carers who travelled to Westminster said: "It was an amazing opportunity to get our voices heard and explain what we do daily and the struggles we go through. It was an incredible experience getting to meet our local MPs and seeing that they were real people who want to help other young carers like me. I found the day educational and getting to know all the things about Parliament and what goes on in there was very interesting. I think my favourite part would probably be the bus ride and tour of London because it was nice to talk to the MPs and other important people in an environment that were all comfortable in.”

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The impact of the events for YCAD and conversations with young carers can already be seen in Westminster.  MPs held a debate focused on ensuring equal educational opportunities for young carers and agreed on the importance of having a designated School Lead and identifying young carers through the school census.  There was also strong encouragement for local authorities to sign the “No Wrong Doors” memorandum, which we hope to see in Gloucestershire this year.

You can get involved by signing The Young Carers Covenant - Carers Trust. If you are an individual, organisation, school, charity or business you too can pledge your support for young carers!