Young Carers Action Day '22

Young Carers Action Day takes place on March 16th 2022 and the purpose of this day is to raise awareness of the struggles and importance of young carers across the country who make massive contributions to their communities and families. The theme this year is “I Care Everyday”, signifying a call from the young carers of Ireland to be recognised and supported by professionals, policy makers and the general public.

The reality for many families where there is chronic illness, mental health problems, disability, alcohol or substance misuse is that children and young adults are routinely involved in caregiving. Many of these young people provide regular and significant care, either episodically or over many years, and are often ‘hidden’ to health and social care professionals.

For the estimated 67,000 young carers in Ireland, the caring role can have a profound impact on the things that are important to growing up. It can affect their health, social life and self-confidence. It can also negatively impact their experiences and outcomes in education and have a lasting effect on their life opportunities.

This Young Carers Action Day, Family Carers Ireland is organising three national events to give young carers a voice at policy level and to make the public much more aware of young carers – who they are, what they do, the very real challenges they face, and why they need support.

#ICareEveryday Social Media Campaign

To help raise awareness of young carers among the public, Family Carers Ireland is organising a social media campaign whereby young carers will take a selfie as they go about their everyday caring routine and post it to social media with the caption #ICareEveryday. All young carers who take part in the campaign will be entered into a draw for a €250 One4All voucher.

If you’re a young carer and you’d like to get involved in this campaign, all you need to do is take a selfie (by yourself, with friends or family, or even with a pet), post the selfie to your social media accounts along with the hashtag #ICareEveryday.

Young Carers Forum

The Young Carers Forum takes place at 10:30am on Wednesday 16^th March via Zoom and aims to give young carers a voice and allow them to highlight the issues that affect them and the actions they feel need to be undertaken by Government. Young carers from across the country will have the opportunity to meet with legislators to discuss a range of topics including young carer awareness, education, mental health, peer support, and respite.

The forum will include contributions from five young carers about issues that are affecting them and will also provide an opportunity for young carers to ask questions of legislators.

Young carers can register to attend the Young Carers Forum by clicking the button below.

Register

Online Table Quiz

At 7pm on Wednesday 16^th March, young carer groups from across the Island of Ireland will battle it out in an online table quiz organised to give young carers a break from their caring role, and to have fun with other young carers in a safe virtual space.

Young carers can register for the online table quiz by clicking the button below.

Register