The new online community and website, called Babble, aims to provide friendship and support online for young carers under 18.
Babble is a space where young carers can find others in a similar position, chat to each other, share their stories and hear about each other’s experiences in a safe environment.
As well as the support and friendship young carers can find with each other, they will also have access to help and advice, email and chat sessions with the Carers Trust Online Support Team who are all qualified youth and community workers or professionally qualified social workers. They also act as site moderators.
Alongside the launch announcement, Carers Trust has released research which shows that young carers were found to be less happy, more worried, sadder and more confused than non-carers of the same age.
When asked what sort of things they worried about, the carers group were twice as worried about money, much more worried about bullying, exams, the future generally and of course they were much more worried about their families.
A quarter of the young carers group reported not having enough people to talk to and 28% said they would like to talk to other young carers online.
Dr Moira Fraser, interim chief executive of Carers Trust, said: “We know from what young people tell us that caring responsibilities can have a big impact on young carers’ mental wellbeing, and this survey really brings home the scale of the issue.
“This is also the first time we’ve been able to compare young carers’ feelings to other children and young people. It shows just how much Babble is needed to combat the risk of isolation and to make sure these young people are as happy and supported as they can be.”
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