Lancashire County Council is backing Young Carers Awareness Day on Thursday 26 January.

This national day recognises the 700,000 children and young people under 18 years old in the UK who provide care and support to someone in their family who is ill, has a disability or misuses substances.

The theme of this year's Awareness Day is 'When I Grow Up', and there's an added focus on helping young carers to achieve a job or career that they want to do.

County Councillor Matthew Tomlinson, cabinet member for children, young people and schools, said: "We're glad to support the Young Carers Awareness Day to raise awareness of the crucial role these young people have in their families. We want this to be a day that everyone recognises the challenges faced by young carers, and give some thought to this.

"Our most recent figures indicate that we have around 4,000 children and young people who are providing care.

"Most young carers provide between two and 19 hours every week but some provide as many as 50 hours each week. This can mean that they face many issues, and can be under a lot of strain because they are constantly juggling family, school and their personal life. As a result, their childhoods can be very different from those of their peers.

"We want to help schools, colleges, employers and the public to be able to assist these young people, and make sure that they are able to access the right support now and are able to go on to pursue the employment that they want."

The Lancashire Young Carers Service is run by children's charity Barnardo's on behalf of the county council, in partnership with the East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

Neil Worsley, Barnardo’s team manager for the Lancashire Young Carers Service, said: “We offer young carers in the region one-to-one support with a project worker, and we are there when they and their families need us to provide emotional support and assistance in other areas of their life.

“The focus of our work is to ensure the whole family is receiving the right level of care and to liaise with other agencies to reduce the impact of the young person’s caring responsibilities.

“It is crucial that these amazing young people, who give so much to their loved ones, have a life outside of caring and have access to the same opportunities as others of their age. We work closely with our young carers to ensure they can engage in school, socialise with their peers, and provide advice and support in gaining access to further education, training and work. We also give these young people a voice through the Lancashire Carers Forum, where their invaluable insight helps to influence the way the service is run in the county.”

People can help to publicise the Young Carers Awareness Day by signing up to make pledges to young carers at
https://lccsecure.lancashire.gov.uk/...asp?qid=703669

Anyone interested in finding out more about support for young carers in Lancashire can call 01772 641002, email lancashireyoungcarers@barnardos.org.uk or visit http://www.lancashirechildrenstrust....4&pageid=47187

To find out about the national Young Carers Awareness Day, visit www.carers.org/young-carers-awareness-day