What we do

Fife Young Carers supports children and young people up to the age of 25 years who look after someone in their family who are ill or have a disability.

Our services:
Assessment
All children and young people aged up to 25 who are referred to Fife Young Carers are allocated a worker who meets with them to discuss the types of support they require and carries out our robust assessment. This staff member also contacts the young carers family for a discussion. We then make a plan of the support we can provide along with information about other agencies who may be able to support the whole family. Young and Young Adult Carers may receive one or more of the following support from us.

One to One Support
We provide holistic, solution focussed one to one support for children and young people who require it. One to one support allows children and young people the opportunity to be listened to and to explore solutions and ideas in areas that are impacting their day to day life, future ambitions and their caring role in order to enable them to reach their full potential. Sometimes we will link in with more specialised services such as Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

Group Support
We run fortnightly or monthly respite group sessions allowing Young and Young Adult Carers to have a break from their caring role with other young people facing similar circumstances at home.
Group activities provide:

Peer support
Opportunity to talk to a trusted adult about concerns they have
Chance to try new activities and build confidence
Have fun
Activities to improve their physical and mental wellbeing
Issue based workshops and training

Young Carers Authorisation Card
We issue two levels of Young Carers Cards which helps identify them within education, health, pharmacy and other settings. This enables Young and Young Adult Carers to be identified without having to repeat their story and are given extra support from these agencies more easily.

Education Support
Young and Young Adult Carers are more likely to struggle with their education and attainment than their peers, due to the added pressure and effects of having a caring role. We provide dedicated education support to help reduce the impact of their caring role on their education. We also provide training and awareness raising sessions to education staff to highlight the issues that Young and Young Adult Carers may face in school and college and to pupils to increase their awareness and to promote understanding of a caring role.

Young Carers Statements
Young Carers statements are a statutory requirement to be offered to all Young Carers aged 18 and under. We support Young Carers to complete Young Carers Statements, a document that identifies personal outcomes for Young Carers and support options that can be put in place. We also support and provide training to other statutory agencies to complete these.

Young person friendly information
Many young carers find it difficult to understand the condition the person they care for has as part of our assessment and support service we provide young person friendly information on a variety of medical conditions.

Respite trips
We organise day and respite trips to allow young carers the opportunity to have an extended break from their caring roles and try new activities they would not normally have access to. These activities are designed to improve social skills, confidence and self-esteem.

Support for Young Adult Carers
Having a caring role can impact a young person’s life in a variety of ways, Fife Young Carers provides tailored support to young people aged 16-25 to ensure young adult carers can reach their full potential.
We provide:

Information or guidance with applying for further education or training
Employability support
Financial support or advice
Solution Focused one to one support
Peer support

Awareness Raising
Fife Young Carers are dedicated to highlighting the needs and issues Young and Young Adult Carers face on a day-to-day basis. We regularly provide training and awareness raising sessions across various sectors in Fife including Health, Local Authority, Education, Private and Voluntary organisations; giving them the skills and tools to identify and support Young Carers from within their role.

Advocacy Support
We enable and encourage Young and Young Adult Carers to have a voice and relay their needs and support requirements to professionals such as Social Workers, Doctors, Teachers or their cared-for person. We ensure that Young and Young Adult Carers wishes and needs are listened to.

Emergency Plans
We offer bespoke short term emergency plans to Young and Young Adult Carers and their families to be used in an emergency should they be unable to continue with their caring role and to protect Young Carers under 16 if the adult in the home is required to be away from the family home.

Befriending Service
Young and Young Adult Carers often find it difficult to access social opportunities and activities within their community. Our befriending service, in partnership with Lead Scotland, aims to support them into these activities whilst encouraging their own personal development and resilience.

Family Wellbeing Service
Through early intervention we take a holistic view of the family situation where a young carer has an intensive caring role and challenging family situation. Our Family Wellbeing Workers will work with our families to create better outcomes for the young carer and their families.

Young Carer Participatory Group - Voices of Change
Open to all young people in our service aged 14+ this group is dedicated to raising the profile of Young and Young Adult Carers in the Fife area. They are advocates for Young and Young Adult Carers rights and needs, representing Young and Young Adult Carers at all levels within service and work with professionals, the public and both Fife Young Carers staff and Board. They engage with Young and Young Adult Carers throughout Fife to gather their opinions on what they need and want in terms of support and use their own experience and expertise to help others in similar roles. This group have also consulted on both local and national strategies