Children as young as three are caring for relatives in our region - here’s what one former young carer is doing about it

Children as young as three years old are caring for relatives in Greater Manchester.

Young carers have been contending with various lockdown restrictions on top of collecting prescriptions, cleaning homes, preparing meals, looking after younger siblings and having to grow up incredibly quickly this year.

One group is pushing to raise awareness of young carer’s experiences and offer children a ‘safe space’ to have fun, be themselves and forget about their responsibilities for a while.

Paige Steers, 27, was a young carer herself and still cares for her dad who was involved in a serious road traffic incident in 2003.

She also cares for her brother who has learning disabilities and is deaf. 

She now works as an engagement co-ordinator at Salford’s Lowry Theatre, which runs one to two-hour arts sessions for young carers to help them express themselves – in partnership with young carers’ support charity Gaddum and theatre company LUNG as part of the Who Cares creative campaign.

She said: “The youngest carer identified and referred to Gaddum for support was just three years old. 

"A lot of children are hidden carers, like I didn’t know what a carer was until I was one, until someone told me.

“It takes a school, a doctor, a neighbour to say ‘you’re a young carer’, before you realise ‘oh, yeah, I am’.

“There are too many children that have care responsibilities that aren’t being identified.

"We’re working on raising awareness and getting them support.”

Paige said her own experiences allow her to relate to children who come to the sessions for some respite, which she took part in when they first started in 2011.

She said: “I’m really lucky because I can see it from both sides, I can understand what they’re going through.

"As a lone carer from 16, I know what it’s like – I had to grow up almost overnight, so I can understand.

“I can’t imagine what it must be like now with the pandemic.

"But we can say, come to this space, have a laugh, let kids be kids and forget about things for a while.

"Of course that home life is still there, but for a while they can express themselves and just be themselves.”

The creative classes include sessions in drama, animation, photography and more.

Paige is passionate about the classes that gave her so much when she was younger.

She said: “We’re so lucky to have the arts, creativity is such a fantastic tool for young people to have their voices heard and very important for mental health.

"They can adopt another character, create an animation, show photos so it’s not them stood on a stage.

"Or if they want to stand up and be themselves, that’s fantastic and we’ll support them.

“There’s no pressure – we say to them, share what you feel comfortable discussing and we help them to do that in a safe way.

"All our young people love it.

“They get to share ideas and have some freedom that they don’t necessarily get at home or school, they’re just being a kid. It’s about having that safe space.”

Across the board, referrals to Gaddum’s services increased over the last year, especially regarding mental health, wellbeing and social isolation; partly caused by children not having access to the internet at home while the pandemic has kept schools closed.

Paige said: “Their escape was going to school for seven to eight hours a day.

"Now, they don’t have that.

"They’re a carer 24/7 with no escape or respite.

"That’s having a detrimental effect on our young people.”

Between them, Gaddum, the Lowry and the Who Cares campaign offer respite activities, practical support, benefit advice, physical support and mental health support to children and young people with caring responsibilities – including pointing them in the right direction for other support services.

Now, a decade on from her first class, Paige said children have blossomed as a result of the programme.

She said: “It’s been life-changing for them – one boy we had was so inspired he’s gone off to university to study politics.

"He said ‘I can change things’ and so he’s gone off to do just that.

“And I was on the very first programme and now I’ve followed it all the way through – it’s fantastic and accessible to everyone, you can see the difference it make to the kids and the different opportunities they get.”

Gaddum, the Lowry and the Who Cares campaign are working to raise awareness of young carers; from grassroots to policymakers and performances of the children’s work have even been given in the House of Lords and on BBC Radio 4.

Paige said: “It’s about saying to the young people, this is what a young carer is, this might be you and teaching professionals how to recognise them.

"It’s saying what you do directly impacts them, they’ve already got a lot on their plate, how can we make this easier?

“You don’t necessarily think of a young person when you hear the word carer.

"But it’s about saying this is who we are and what we’re facing and what you can do.

“It’s all well and good discussing it, but when it comes from the mouth of people who are living it – they know best, we know best.“

Paige said she knows, ‘without a shadow of a doubt’, her life would have been ‘very different’ if it weren’t for Gaddum’s support.

She said: “They were my lifeline.

"As a teen, when you feel like you’ve got no support and all this responsibility, then you have somewhere to go to and see other young people.

"They’re in different circumstances and have different responsibilities, but you know ‘they get me’. 

“It’s a chance not to think about what I’m doing for tea and I can just have a laugh.

“You’re not alone. If there are young carers out there, I’m reachable at the Lowry, we’re taking referrals, if people want to reach out – do it.”

Gaddum can be contacted via their website here: https://www.gaddumcentre.co.uk/

Further details about the Lowry’s programmes can be found here: https://thelowry.com/get-creative/arts-for-social-change/

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