Inside this issue

Young Carer Card

Fun bits

Ella’s Article

Response to future of service

YFC Article

Meet AYC’s Mooooo mascot

Teddies Tune Concert

Yippee!

SHOUT 2010 - Into the Lion’s Den! By Simon Murphy

Pharmacies

A-Z Conditions - D

Clive - Question & Answers

LYCP Outcomes design comp

Walking Forwards Together

LincolnshireYoung CarersPartnership

Walking Forwards Together

LincolnshireYoung CarersNewsletter

Action for Young Carers

a cy

Autumn 2010Issue 4

Fun bitsA Joke: Q: What’s the difference between England football team and a tea-bag?

A: The tea-bag stays in the cup for longer. (Caitlin)

On September 1st, at SHOUT, we launched the Lincolnshire Young Carer Card in front of 84 young carers and various guests, including the High Sheriff of Lincolnshire, Archdeacon Tim, Chief Inspector Daryl Pearce and the Chief Executive of Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust Paul Jackman.

This card has been developed following one Young Carer, Beth’s experience and her determination that Young Carers should be recognised, involved and listened to: “I wanted to do something to prevent other young carers going through what I did and hopefully this card will help to do that, I hope that it will make healthcare professionals aware of the fact that we are caring, and that we need to know things too. The situation I was in was rather difficult and I hope that this card will help turn a mess into a message” she says. The card has been promoted all over the NHS in Lincolnshire as well as the East Midlands Ambulance Service and LIVES scheme and will help by showing health and other professionals that permission has been given by your parents/guardians to talk about your cared-for’s condition and related information.

We know that not all of you have heard about the Card and there are quite a lot of you to get round, so please be patient – we will get to you as soon as we can! When you get yours, show it at school, at the doctor’s, at the chemists and to anyone you think should be sharing information or recognising you as a Young Carer!!

The Card has been a partnership project between Action for Young Carers, Lincolnshire County Council, NHS Lincolnshire, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust and Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation NHS Trust and a donation from the Bromhead Medical Charity who gave us the money to buy the printer, software, ink and blank cards, so a big thank you to all of those who helped!!

Here’s a picture of the sample card we have been using for promotion:

Young Carer Card

Hello,

Well I’ve been representing you guys on the youth cab for quite some time now! We recently held the Linx Festival which was an absolute success! With double the amount of people going than was expected! Not only this but at every twist and turn I have been trying to mention and solve issues that we have as young carers. And one thing that has recently crossed my mind is having cheaper transport on buses for ourselves, so for example we have a “Carers Card” which (in the future might) allow us to have cheaper travel, as often the money situation at home is not the best, and so leads to difficulties affording expensive things such as transport.

I also had a good old chat with a man about education and the importance of young carers groups within schools, and how essential and rare support is! He said he will now try to push young carers groups being created when he visits schools! Not only this but I met the Children’s Commissioner for England, speaking to her about life as a young carer in and out of school and a quote of mine was actually published on the front cover of her monthly newsletter!

What else is there...Ooo yes we had the lovely Lucy voted onto the cabinet at the last MAD dayU!

There is an excellent opportunity arising for you guys to grill councillors, teachers, and MP’s on the situation for young people in your area! So don’t miss out! See http://www.c4yp.co.uk/ for details on dates and locations! I’ve enjoyed my time but sadly I now have to finish and focus on my studies, thank you so much for voting me on to the youth cabinet! It’s been a pleasure to work for you guys! And I hope I’ve made you proud!

Hope to hear from you soon! Ella U xxx

Above is Ella meeting the Childrens’ Commissioner, Dr Maggie Atkinson. For more info about the Children’s Commissioner, go to www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk

Ella’s Article

What You’ve Been Up To

In June, 15 young carers went to the Young Carers festival at Fairthorne Manor near Southampton for a weekend of activities and camping, dragging Bev, Lesley, Emma and our new mascot Helen the Cow along with them! Helen is new to the project and hopefully more of you have now had a chance to meet her. The weather was amazing and the whole event was really well organised with so many activities, it was hard to know where to start. My favourite bit was the firework display which seemed to last for ages and made everyone go “ooh” and “aah” a lot. By the time we got to Sunday, the lack of sleep (thanks guys!) was beginning to tell but overall it was a brilliant experience, everyone seemed to enjoy it and it provided a really good break for those who went. By Emma

I was so excited when the invite arrived for the YCF, it looked great, there were so many activities planned, so much to do....Jacobs ladder, zip wiring, canoeing and so much more! I couldn’t wait. The journey down to Southampton was quite tiring, especially in the heat but Jonny made it enjoyable by shouting out the window at all the passing cars...I think the heat or maybe the excitement was getting too much for him! haha.

The festival was amazing, the weather couldn’t have been better, it was absolutely gorgeous, and I got a great tan :) There was so much to do, so many new friends to meet, we spent lots of time just chilling and chatting. The silent disco was freaky, it looked as though crowds of people were all dancing to nothing, but it turned out they had headphones on....weird!

It was a great weekend, one of the best ever, I thoroughly enjoyed it and most of all it gave me a break from my caring role :)

Thanks AYC for such a fantastic opportunity, and thanks to all my friends for making it such a fun weekend :)....p.s Helen the cow is an absolute legend!!! xD from Sacha

The gang arrive on Friday night and pose for the “before” photo

Team Lipstick, before watching the fireworks

Helen was new to the project & was a bit nervous but everyone looked after her!

Teddies tunes is a music group aimed at pre school children which is run by Rose who has weekly sessions in and around Boston. On 10th July the children from Teddies tunes and some older children from other groups that Rose organises had a concert at Zion Church in Boston where they performed songs that they have been learning during their weekly sessions. The concert was free but donations were collected which were split equally between AYC and Zion church. The children were fantastic and performed beautifully and Beth did a very good job also, at telling all the people there about young carers and AYC.

The total donations came to £140 so we received £70 of that which will help towards activities. So a big Thankyou to Rose and everyone at Teddies Tunes for their generosity. If any of you guys who live in or close by to Boston have younger brothers and sisters who aren’t at school yet and would like to attend teddies tunes they can ring Rose Brown on 07984121399

Hello!

My name is Helen the AYC Cow and I joined the team in June this year at the Lincolnshire Show. I’ve had a very exciting time since then – I’ve been to the Young Carers’ Festival, Twin Lakes, Wainfleet Hall for some residentials, the Autism Awareness Rally in Skegness and to PGL for SHOUT, phew! I’ve met lots of you already but I know that there are loads of you yet to meet so next time you are on a trip with AYC, see if I’m about. I also have a facebook page but I am not allowed to accept any friend requests – you can always be a fan tho.

Lovely to meet you, see you sooooooooon Helen

Meet AYC’s Mooooo mascot

If you are always collecting prescriptions from the chemist, why not ask them if they have a “collect and deliver” service. This means that they may collect the prescription from your doctor’s surgery and deliver it to your home, saving time and stress!!

If you ask a question at the chemists and you don’t understand the answer just ask them to speak more clearly! Sometimes they use jargon without realising, just like most of us can, so don’t be afraid to ask them to explain again.

If there are any medicines left over, the best place to take them for disposal is your chemist. They may ask you to pour out any liquid medicines, just to check that there

aren’t any used needles in the bottles but they will take the empty bottles too.

Did you know...

• You should only store medicines in the fridge if it specifically says you should, if there isn’t a sticker or the chemist doesn’t tell you, then don’t.

• You have to be 16 years old to buy aspirin so don’t be upset if you are younger and the chemist refuses to sell you any – they are just doing their job within the law

Pharmacists should also be aware of the Young Carer Card, so don’t forget to use it when you get yours!!

The first time I felt worried about attending SHOUT was when, after I volunteered to help out over the three days of the event, Helen asked me (with a wicked gleam in her eye) if I knew what I was letting myself in for....

So when I arrived at Caythorpe PGL for the 3 day residential, I admit I was wondering what was in store for me. I didn’t have to worry, the whole thing was amazing fun and I’m so glad I was able to be involved and help out.

I was paired with Sally and her group of young carers, which was named ‘Team Bravery’. This was a very good name for them, as some of the activities (like Giant Swing, Jacob’s Ladder, Abseiling) were pretty scary! All of the team were amazing, and had a go at most of the activities – there were awards up for grabs so it was all to play for!

One of my favourite activities was the raft-building, and it was great fun to throw water bombs at the young carers and watch everyone get drenched in the lake! I also loved my personal wake-up song from Helen every morning!I did get told off at one point, as I was caught having a cup of tea with Emily, Emma and Amy in the girls block!!

Helen soon put me straight though and marched me back out to the boys block where I belonged! It was brilliant to meet up with some of the young carers I knew, that are involved in the Young Carers Partnership, and to meet lots more new friends too. Thanks to Helen, all of the AYC staff and of course the young carers for making me feel so welcome, and I’d love to come back next year if I’m invited – I promise I’ll stay in the right block!! Simon

I would like to say thanks to AYC for giving me the opportunity of relax and have a break from caring, it has helped me so much and I think if AYC wasn’t here I wouldn’t be able to survive so thanks again for all the help. I have had loads of fun – THANK YOU AYC! From Katie C

Pharmacies

SHOUT 2010 – Into the Lion’s Den! By Simon Murphy

Yippee!We have now started delivering our new siblings service (a service especially for those of you who help to look after a brother or sister). So far we have visited siblings groups in Grantham and Holbeach and we are soon on our way to Alford and Cherry Willingham.

We look at what it means to be a sibling young carer, what difficulties you may come across, what you can do about them and what you can do to help yourself. We are also hoping to improve knowledge about different conditions either with guest speakers or internet sessions.

We have also started our new siblings postcard collection. Even if you have not been on our course, if you are a sibling young carer we would love you to send us a 6x4 photo size picture of your sibling, including any details you know about their condition. These are being collected in a photo album and taken everywhere with us so that other

young carers can see how many of you are living with people with a similar condition.

We are able to access a collection of books from the library service, both fiction and non fiction that are relevant to sibling young carers. In the next newsletter we will issue a list of books and if you would like to borrow one just let us know – you do not have to be a member of your local library to use this service.

If you are a sibling young carer and have access to the internet, take a look at www.sibs.org.uk for lots of useful tips and advice.

Please do let us know if you think of any activity or information that may help you as sibling young carers. Bev and Lesley

To get involved with anything you have read about in this newsletter or to request a copy of the Newsletter in an alternative format

contact AYC on Tel: 01205 358834 Email: u2ayc@carersfederation.co.uk

Diabetes

Diabetes is a common condition in the UK. There are 2.5 million people diagnosed with the condition and over 500 000 people who have diabetes but don’t know it. Someone with diabetes has too much glucose in their blood so their body can’t use it properly. The hormone insulin helps glucose to enter our body’s cells and is produced by the pancreas. However for people with diabetes their pancreas doesn’t produce any insulin at all or not enough to do this job.

There are 2 types of diabetes. Type 1 is where the insulin producing cells in the body have been destroyed leaving the body unable to produce any insulin at all. Type 1 can develop at any age but usually appears before the age of 40yrs and especially in childhood. It accounts for about 5-15% of all people with diabetes and they have to have daily insulin injections. A healthy diet and regular exercise are also a good idea.

Type 2 develops when the body is still able to make insulin but not enough, or it produces insulin that doesn’t work properly. This usually happens to people who are over 40yrs although it is getting more common in people younger than that. This accounts for between 85 & 95% of all people with diabetes and is treated with a healthy diet and lots of exercise and in some cases may need medicine, tablets or insulin.

For more information go to www.diabetes.org.uk or tel: 0845 120 2960 (9.00am-5.00pm) Mon to Fri.

Dementia

Dementia is a word which is used to describe signs and symptoms that someone has when their brain has been affected by certain conditions. These are things such as a result of a stroke or Alzheimer’s Disease. It is described as progressive which means that it will gradually get worse, however it is impossible for doctors to predict how quickly the condition will get worse as everyone is different.

Someone with dementia may have loss of memory which could mean things like forgetting people’s names or places they have been to, what they have done earlier in the day or forgetting the way home when they are out. They may have communication problems where it may affect how they talk, read and write. They may have some mood changes because parts of the brain that control emotions can be affected and they may also get angry or feel sad sometimes about what is happening to them.

There is no cure for dementia, which means if someone has it they can never be completely better, although there are now some drugs which can make some of the things that happen with dementia better. There are lots of doctors and scientists looking at and doing research into making new ways to help people with dementia.

For more information go to: www.alzheimers.org.uk or tel: 020 7423 3500

Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia is a different name for a condition known as Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). The condition affects someone’s coordination, which means that they may appear quite clumsy. It may also affect someone’s fine motor skills and gross motor skills. Some examples of fine motor skills are; doing up buttons, using cutlery, tying shoe laces and writing. Gross motor skills which require balance and may be affected in someone with dyspraxia are things like catching and throwing and riding a bike. Due to these difficulties someone with dyspraxia will often try not to get involved in sporty activities.

Dyspraxia is a learning difficulty as it can also affect any or all areas of development and can make the ways in which we learn things difficult. This means that reading and writing may also be difficult. As with all conditions each person is affected differently and each person with dyspraxia may have different problems at different times. This can mean that one day they may not be able to do something that they could do before.

Dyspraxia can’t be cured but some of the symptoms may be made easier by advice and exercises can be given to help with tasks which may cause problems and to help reading and writing get better. They may also help with ways to improve behaviour if that is affected. This is all done by lots of different professionals working together as a team to look at each persons’ problems and finding the best way to help them.

For more information go to: www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk tel: 01462 454 986 (10.00am -1.00pm) Mon to Fri.

Dyslexia

The word dyslexia comes from the Greek language and means difficulty with words. It is hard to explain dyslexia as it affects different people in different ways but the basic problem is a difficulty learning to read, spell and write, even though someone has a good understanding of things and has had a good teacher. It is caused by areas of the brain that deal with language being different in people with dyslexia but it is not fully understood yet. Around 4% of the population have severe dyslexia and another 6% have a mild to moderate form of the condition.

Some of the symptoms can be not having much interest in letters and words, problems with reading and spelling, putting letters and figures the wrong way round, being slow at work which involves writing and not being able to concentrate for long. There is no cure for dyslexia but knowing that there is a problem and proper teaching to work with the individual problems can help a lot. If there are problems with visual differences then coloured overlays and lenses help to stop letters “dancing on the page” which is a common complaint.

For more information go to the British Dyslexia Association www.bdadyslexia.org.uk or tel: 0845 251 9002

A-Z Conditions - D

What is your name? - Clive Yates

What is your job? - Business Manager - Children’s Trust Board

What does that mean? - I help with the leadership, management and effectiveness of the Children’s Trust Board (which is made up of partner organisations including the Health Service, Police, Schools, Local Authorities, Voluntary Groups etc). The board is responsible for the design and delivery of the Children and Young Peoples’ Plan for Lincolnshire.

What else do you do? - I directly support a number of sub groups within the partnership and attend and offer support/advice to other groups including the seven Local Children’s Partnerships (one per each of the district areas of Lincolnshire), County Community Safety Board, the Youth Cabinet and Action for Young Carers. A key priority and the challenge we have, is to make sure that the voices of children, young people and their families are heard and that we actively encourage partnership events which recognise and celebrate the activities and achievements of children and young people.

What do you like to do when you’re not working? - Sports Biker & Motor Sports fan, arm chair supporter of Liverpool FC

What is the best part of your job? - The opportunity and privilege of meeting, working with and learning from the experiences of children and young people from all walks of life across the county.

A lot of you also asked about the future of your Young Carer service in Lincolnshire. This isn’t Clive’s area of expertise but he kindly asked a few questions on your behalf and this is what he can tell us:

The new Government is now making sure that it is getting the best value for the money it spends on services, keeping the current financial situation steady and reducing what it owes. It will “refresh” the Carers Strategy and wants to produce a clear plan for 2011 – 2015. That doesn’t mean that the whole Carers Strategy will be rewritten but it might be amended and they will be working in partnership with Carers, Local Authorities, the NHS, employers, the voluntary sector and local communities – can focus from April 2011 onwards.

‘Carers will be universally recognised and valued as being fundamental to strong families and stable communities. Support will be tailored to meet individuals’ needs, enabling carers to maintain a balance between their caring responsibilities and a life outside caring, while enabling the person they support to be a full and equal citizen.’ That’s as much as we know, but Lincolnshire County Council and the Children’s Trust Board retain a commitment to ensuring young carers do not take on in-appropriate levels of caring. Clive is personally committed to attending the quarterly meetings of the Lincolnshire Young Carers’ Partnership and along with key staff such as Sarah & Helen we will continue working together to ensure that young carers in Lincolnshire receive the support they need. The Children’s Trust Board is expected to agree at the end of September a new structure which includes ‘Youth Voice’. Building on the successes of the Young Carers alongside the Youth Cabinet in raising the awareness and profile of the respective groups across the partnership, Youth Voice provides an opportunity to bring together other groups in addition to young carers and the youth cabinet and will include Looked After Children and the Rural Youth Council. Meeting with Children’s Trust Board members Young Carers will continue to have opportunities to directly discuss concerns and issues within the partnership ensuring the voice of young people is high on the agenda.

Clive - Question & Answers

LYCP Outcomes design comp

You’re all probably VERY familiar with the Every Child Matters in Lincolnshire logos, on the right and 5 of the Lincolnshire Young Carer Partnership outcomes are the same. However, the LYCP also has 2 more outcomes: Young Carers are Respected and Young Carers are Heard and Listened to and we would like you to design buttons for those outcomes to fit in with the existing five!

Send your entry to u2ayc@carersfederation.co.uk or to the office address by post and your design might be used for the LYCP Young Carer outcomes in the future!!