This year, in 2018, Manchester Young Carers Group will be undertaking an enormous amount of work. In fact, we will have created a song (with an accompanying music video), a booklet aimed for professionals, and hosted our own conference, all circulating around the issue of young carers going through transition, by the end of this year.
This is a massive but exciting task for members. Despite having busy lives, members of the Group are committed to improving the services for themselves and other young carers, as well as be the voice for young carers. So far, our work has influenced Manchester City Council's strategy, the spreading of awareness around the issue of services for young carers in the city, the policies and procedures for young carers receiving help and support and more. We won the 'Making a Change' award for our work in November 2017, and we don't intend to stop now! If you are a young carer in Manchester aged 8-21, do consider signing up to be a member on our website. You can get involved with:
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Former Chairman of the Manchester Young Carers Forum Arron Parker, now Vice Chairman of the Young Carers Group, talks about his time leading the Forum and how TYSS has helped him and other young carers in Manchester.
Manchester Young Carers Group (or the Young Carers Forum at the time) won the 'Making a Change' Award at the inaugural Youth Buzz Awards in Manchester.
This was for our Be Bothered campaign, a message to the city council and other youth organisations that they need to "be bothered" about us young carers, and provide the help and support that we need. We launched our Be Bothered event in July, attended Partnership meetings, influenced the Young Carers Strategy and have produced booklets on what actions should be taken. It's thanks to the Chairpersons Yasmina Lee, Arron Parker now Reko Smith for pushing the campaign forward and leading the Forum, as well as the other dedicated members who have come and gone, and have been at the forefront of ensuring young carers voices are heard. We are now looking to become an organisation in its own right and build up members for better opportunities and have larger social and political action. A lot has happened since the last time we've written a blog, but there's much to update you on.
The Manchester Young Carers Forum has seen two Chairs, Yasmina Lee and Arron Parker, who have both stepped down recently. As Vice Chairperson under Yasmina Lee and Advisor to the Chairman under Arron Parker, the new Chairman and Leader is Reko Smith. The new Deputy Chairman is Arron Parker. Under Reko Smith, the Forum has been reformed - starting with the logo and website. We are no longer called 'Manchester Young Carers Forum'. We are named 'Manchester Young Carers Group'. Additionally the logo has changed, our email address has changed and our social media accounts have changed. Please visit our 'Contact Us' page to see our social media. This new Young Carers Group still has its campaign, Be Bothered, and will continue to work on it. It is still undergoing recruitment and I'd like to urge you to join us if you are a young carer. The chairperson and founder of the Young Carer's Forum, Yasmina Lee, has been shortlisted for an award by Joanne Aungier at the Manchester City Council, for her hard work, determinism and empowerment to succeed as she has, with the Manchester Youth Council, Family Action, and the Manchester Young Carer's Forum within her community.
I, the Vice Chair, the Deputy-Vice Chair and everyone at the forum and beyond wish her the best of luck and hope she wins this award. She is an inspiration for young women to go beyond and excel. The International Women's Day is on Wednesday 8th March, celebrations are happening in the Manchester Town Hall, and a workshop with the Manchester Youth Council and EdLab MMU from 4-6pm at the Birley Campus in Hulme. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/ManchesterYouthCouncil Since the Forum's opening in Late April, planning work for the Be Bothered! campaign was made. The forum has identified what needs to be done to improve the lives of young carers in Manchester.
The Forum has created plans to work with 42nd Street, NHS School Nurses and the Manchester City Council, and has its own Be Bothered! Booklet, identifying the needs for young carers, the issues they face, and who we want to help us. With the initial meeting on 18th February, the leadership team met with the Head of Youth Commissioning at the Manchester City Council, Elaine Morrison, to discuss the steps to creating promotional material for the campaign, with the intent to work with the Ethical design company, Creative Concern. The Forum in particular felt the campaign's emphasis and priority is to target the Directors, Governors, Policy-Makers, Commissioners, Big Bosses and Front-line staff for support organisations (like the NHS Manchester Trust(s), Manchester City Council, Schools and Colleges in Manchester etc.,) The forum is looking to recruit, and therefore that factors into the campaign too. The forum will be liaising with the Manchester City Council and Creative Concern in the very near future and will soon be ready to launch the campaign. Vice Chairperson Reko Smith: I've Just Spread the Awareness of Young Carers to over 300 People12/2/2017
Hi, I'm Reko, and as you've seen the title, I've just done something incredible. Let me explain it to you.
I've been involved in an immersive theatre experience for the past 2 weeks called 'Hidden'. The show contains 3 floors, and on each floor is an eye-opening, mesmerising experience, where fantastic actors and young carers are involved. The theme revolves around robot carers. Can robot carers replace young carers? in the experience, the audience are the experts, and it's up to them to design the best robot carer to replace young carers, or possibly, not at all. I've worked alongside Writer and Director Tom Bowtell and Immersive Theatre Director Annette Mees, who were fantastic in working and crafting this scenario, with the help of over 50 young carers through the project which started in October half-term. This all came together by the folks at 42nd Street, a fantastic mental health charity in Greater Manchester, with the funding coming from a range of sponsors. The young carers themselves have been the driving force behind this project, and we have worked incredibly hard for the past 3 months to make this all a reality. We as young carers wanted to highlight the complexities and difficulties of caring at a young age, and to make the audience think and understand what it might be like for a young carer, and overall have our voices being heard, and not be 'Hidden'. As a young carer myself, as Vice Chairperson of the Manchester Young Carers Forum, and as candidate for Member of Youth Parliament (MYP) in Manchester, I want to ensure more young carers' voices aren't being hidden, but heard, and heard loudly. Which is why I want to be MYP. I, and the forum, will be working hard this year to ensure we reach that aim. You can check out my MYP website for more information about my candidacy: bit.ly/rekoformyp Check out 42nd Street's description of 'Hidden' here. See That's Manchester's review on 'Hidden'. Vice Chairperson Reko Smith attended the Valuing Young People's Board meeting on 6th December 2016 on behalf of the Manchester Youth Council.
\n \nWhilst present, Reko learned of the Valuing Young People's Strategy, a plan to improve the lives of young people of Manchester. \n \nIn this, YCF Manchester will be, if commissioned, under the charity 'Young Manchester', where this charity will have unprecedented control over the budget for Youth and Play. \n \nCurrently, the Youth and Play budget is controlled and funded by the Manchester City Council, where YCF Manchester plans to commission services with this budget. \n \nNow that, in 2017, the budget will be controlled by Young Manchester, this move allows the charity to fundraise and gather funds which wasn't possible under the Manchester City Council. \n \nAs YCF Manchester is one of the first organisations to be subject to and of influence to the new Our Manchester Strategy and Valuing Young People's Strategy, as well as its leadership comprising of an ex-MYP and Senior Youth Council members, the organisation is poised and almost certain to secure funds via the new charity in 2017. \n \nYCF Manchester will formulate a clear and constructive plan of action for 2017 as it moves to partner with TYSS (Targeted Youth Support Service), 42nd Street and NHS School Nurses in Manchester. \n \nSimultaneously gearing up for its campaign, Be Bothered!, pending funding off either the Manchester City Council or Young Manchester depending on when the changeover occurs. On Thursday 3rd November, representatives of YCF Manchester (the Chair, Vice Chair and Senior Member) attended a meeting with the mental health charity, 42nd Street.
A document was formulated to discuss the proposal of partnering with the charity, as both parties believe it would be beneficial for the young carer to have access to mental health help and support provisions, and raising awareness about mental health in young carers. The peer ambassadors, the senior members at 42nd Street, brainstormed ideas about how both parties can ensure the young carer is receiving the best help and support through this partnership. The original document has been amended with the help of the peer ambassadors. Both parties are expected, in the near future, to establish hosting and/or attending workshops with each other, and creating a referral service for young carers via YCF Manchester so that that young carer gets immediate access to mental health help and support. On Friday 9th September, Chairperson Yasmina Lee, Vice Chairperson Reko Smith and Research and Resource Officer Arron Parker attended the Children's Commissioner's for England event, where they had the pleasure of meeting the commissioner, Anne Longfield.
Yasmina had the honour of interviewing Anne on the day, speaking about what her time is invested in doing and her plans for the future. YCF Manchester are delighted that the commissioner have made contact and are willing to work together for the sake of young carer's in Manchester. Yasmina also had the privilege in interviewing (and absolutely grilling) the Director for Children's Services, Paul Marshall, whom has emphasised his willing engagement with the Manchester City Council's strategy and the commissioned services attached to them (Including YCF Manchester) YCF Manchester delivered a workshop in Improving Services on the day, and organisations such as 42nd Street and School Nurses have expressed their willingness to get involved and even partner with us in the future. TYSS's Chris Delaney (the Targeted Youth Support Service) was really proud and happy about being involved during the day with YCF Manchester, and will be working very closely with YCF Manchester over the coming months too. Vice Chairperson's comments on YCF Manchester's members that attended: "On behalf of YCF Manchester, myself, and everyone you have spoken to during that day, thank you very much to my superior and close friend, Yasmina. You've done extemely well as a leader and chairperson, for such a short space of time with YCF Manchester, it really is an honour to work with you, and share experiences with you. I believe only you have the capabilities of making this work, and I'll do everything I can as Vice Chairperson to fulfil the objectives. You're unequivocally the best youth leader I know. And truly a great friend. "Arron, I'm extremely happy with you on the day. Your commitment is incredible and you've done exceptionally well. A great conversation speaker! I am too, proud to work with you, and I know you'll be a huge asset to YCF Manchester in the future. You're driven and capable of handling big tasks, and I'm very happy that you believe in YCF Manchester. Keep up the hard work that you've done so far, I'm happy to have a friend in you!" YCF Manchester are continuously working hard and will hopefully be ready to officially launch the Be Bothered campaign in late Autumn. Thank you to the Manchester City Council for the oppurtunity and support you've given so far. Subscribe to our newsletter by going to our 'Newsletter' signup page on our website. |
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