Lucy cares for her mother, who has recently experienced two bleeds on the brain which have resulted in long term health problems. Her mother now experiences seizures, memory loss, poor mobility and has mental health difficulties due to previous trauma.
Lucy’s caring role
Lucy is an only child, and nobody else lives at home with them. Her role as a young carer does not involve completing too many domestic tasks, but her role is more apparent when her mum is suddenly unwell.
When this happens, Lucy must make quick decisions about her mother’s health and care. She has had to call ambulances to help her mother when she is having seizures or is unconscious. She has also been previously told by paramedics to ‘say goodbye’ to her mother, impacting her emotional wellbeing.
Lucy has had to help put her mother into the recovery position, feed her when she has been poorly and provide emotional support to her mother.
How we have helped
Lucy was referred to Carers First by her mother’s physiotherapist, and we intervened to provide support for Lucy in her caring role and at school. Firstly, we completed assessments to inform us of the type of support Lucy required.
Following this, we put together an emergency plan to provide urgent support for Lucy and completed some one-to-one work with her.
We then liaised with her school, to ensure that she could continue getting the most out of her education while caring for her mum. We also provided a range of groups and activities for Lucy, to help her to meet other young carers and engage in peer support and informative sessions. Lucy was referred to Honeypot, a national young carers charity who provide countryside respite breaks, and Off The Record who provide counselling services.
The Merton Household Support Grant Scheme also provided Lucy with a £200 voucher to help her and her family financially.
If you are a young carer like Lucy, we can provide a range of tailored support to help your wellbeing, education and financial situation. Find out more about receiving support from Carers First here.
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