Summary
Fife Young Carers supports young people who provide a caring role within their family. The funding received allowed 72 young carers to access outdoor education activities at Lochore Meadows and Cluny Clays. We had to go to Cluny Clays instead of Fordell Firs due to restrictions in booking.
What Outdoor Adventure Breaks did
We held 4-day trips to Lochore Meadows for 32 young carers and 2-day trips to Cluny Clays for 40 young carers who were able to take part in activities they would not normally have been able to access, this is 18 less than we had expected to take due to last minute cancellations because of illness and the need to self-isolate. The young carers worked as a team: canoeing; paddleboarding; riding mountain bikes; using Segways; playing footgolf; clay pigeon shooting; and enjoying the interactive driving range. Activities took place during July and August 2021. We identified young carers for these trips with a high level of caring, experiencing social exclusion and/or having poor mental health. Fife covers a large geographic area and normally our young carers only meet others in their own area but during these opportunities many friendships were formed between young carers from different areas of Fife. During 1 trip a male attending Lochore Meadows, who was the only male there, at first he felt awkward and kept his distance from the rest of the group, as the group made their way into the canoes he decided to take charge as he could sense some of the girl were feeling slightly uneasy, he was able to talk with them and reassure them as well as encouraging them to take part, by the time the group reached the island they were rowing to he felt part of the group and all awkwardness had disappeared, at the start of the day he was withdrawn but following this he was central to the group and having lots of fun.
To make this a success our staff had to work with others from other agencies to provide each of the activities and to co-ordinate travel from across Fife to these venues.
What Fife Young Carers has learned
Targeting carers most in need of support due to the limited numbers who could attend the trips to Lochore Meadows we had to be sure we were targeting the young carers most in need of support, we did this by ensuring we had conversations with all the staff team explaining the reason why we had to target the young carers with a high-level caring role, who are socially isolated or impacted by their own mental health. We learned our staff needed more support to consider the needs of the young carer and not just suggest young people they knew would attend.
Reaching out and engaging with new young carers, we found we had to give parents/carers of these young people more information and reassurance than those who had experienced trips with us before; likewise we found that we had to reassure the young carers more and support them to integrate with the wider group.
Developing new short breaks activities - We have also learned that the young carers really enjoyed being outdoors and taking part in challenging activities, this has provided us with ideas for future short break activities we could take part in.
How Fife Young Carers has benefitted from the funding
Fife Young Carers has benefited from the Creative Breaks Funding as we have been able to develop links with local outdoor education facilities which will allow us to run similar days during future school holidays. Due to how well behaved the young carers were during the trips both Lochore Meadows and Cluny Clays have said they would be happy to run future days for Fife Young Carers. We will look to source similar days at different venues throughout Fife which will allow more young carers to experience a break from their caring role.
Project Outcomes
Outcome
Young carers will still be in touch with new friends met during these breaks and will be keen to attend future activities and residentials.
Results
The project outcome was met fully as several young people made new contacts and enjoyed spending time with new people. Having returned to groups several of these young carers who have attended these events have asked when they can do similar things again and talk about the activities they did and the other young carers they met from that other areas.
Case study
Two girls from different areas who had never met before were very nervous when attending a day at Cluny Clays, they were originally meant to be in different groups however when staff noticed how nervous both girls were it was decided to place them in a group together. The morning was spent with the girls being very nervous and shy, the staff member encouraged the girls to talk with each other, after the first activity the girls started to relax and talk to each other, by lunch time the girls had clearly bonded and were proud to say they had only just met but felt they had a good friendship; throughout the day this bond grew stronger. The girls showed lots of delight, when a small change was made so they could be together for the day. The girls spent the day filled with lots of giggling and supporting each other, cheering each other on, and generally being two friends who were enjoying spending the day together. Both girls have a similar caring role, helping with a sibling so were able to offer each other lots of support and advice about their caring role throughout their day. They ensured they had each other’s contact details before they left so they can continue to stay in touch with each other.
The girls enjoyed their day trying out new things in, particularly as neither had had the opportunity to try these things before and said they would love to attend more days like this and hopefully attend with their families.
Before meeting each other neither girl had discussed their cared for in any detail with another. They stated they felt able to do this with each other as they were the same age and their caring roles were similar.
Outcome
Young carers will feel well supported by our support workers, having developed a closer bond and relationship built on trust during the trips and residentials. They will feel more comfortable turning to them for advice on how to manage their caring role, especially when facing challenges
Results
This outcome was fully met the feedback we received referred to the support they received and both staff and young carers reported to having developed relationships with each other further. New staff reported that returning to groups after the summer felt natural and there was a sense of ease between young people and staff.
Case study
Outcome 2 -Young carers will feel well supported by our support workers, having developed a closer bond and relationship built on trust during the trips and residentials. They will feel more comfortable turning to them for advice on how to manage their caring role, especially when facing challenges
a. This outcome was fully met the feedback we received referred to the support they received and both staff and young carers reported to having developed relationships with each other further. New staff reported that returning to groups after the summer felt natural and there was a sense of ease between young people and staff.
Case Study Outcome 2
Belle (not real name) was referred to FYC during the first lockdown, she was assessed as requiring group and respite support. Belle attends group on a regular basis and enjoys this. During Summer 2021 Rebecca (Team Leader) invited Belle to attend an activity day at Cluny Clays, when talking with Belles’ mum she was told that recently Belle had been really withdrawn and had told her mum she no longer want to live. Mum was very upset at this and wasn’t sure where she could turn to for support as she has no family support. Rebecca suggested 1:1 sessions for Belle to allow her a safe space to talk about her worries, mum stated she was unsure how well Belle would engage with a worker on a 1:1 basis but felt it would be worthwhile giving it a try. On the day of the Cluny Clays trip Rebecca met with Belle, she was very nervous and told Rebecca she was unsure what to expect from the day, Rebecca introduced Belle to Lynn (Lynn is a family worker who would be taking over 1:1 support with Belle) and explained that Lynn will be the group leader for the group that she would be in for the day. During the day Lynn ensured she spent time with Belle, talking about her interests and encouraging her and praising her when taking part in activities. At lunch time Lynn was aware Belle never had much food, stating she wasn’t hungry, and was very shy around a larger group so Lynn engaged with Belle playing games and asking 1 other young carer to join in, this helped Belle to relax again. The following week Lynn was running an activity day at Lochore Meadows, there was a last-minute cancellation so Lynn contacted Belle’s mum to offer the space to her, she also discussed what food Belle likes to eat at lunch as she never enjoyed lunch the previous week, she was advised Belle loves a sausage roll so Lynn ensured there was one available on the day. When Belle arrived at Lochore Meadows and noticed Lynn she visibly relaxed and ran up to Lynn to say hi to her. Throughout the course of the day Belle was constantly looking to Lynn for reassurance, she was very excitied about the activities and thoroughly enjoyed the water-based activities. At lunch time Belle was delighted to see a sausage roll and was very thankful that Lynn had purchased this for her. When the taxi arrived to take Belle home, she asked Lynn if she would see her again, Lynn used this opportunity to let Belle know she would be providing 1:1 support and explained what this would look like. The following week Lynn met with Belle and went for a walk and talk, during this Belle was very open and honest with Lynn and told her how she feels, what worries she has and how she has been feeling quite low recently. Lynn now provides regular 1:1 with Belle, has supported her to attend CAMHS appointments and supported her to source classes within her local community such as karate which will help Belle to feel less isolated and have a regular break from her caring role. Since Belle has started to receive regular 1:1 support she has reported feeling better within herself and states she doesn’t worry about her mum as much when she is at school, she has attended a number of CAMHS appointments that she feels she wouldn’t have been able to attend without the support from Lynn.
Outcome
Young carers will make new friends and positive memories. They will feel more relaxed having attended an activity day and/or residential and will be able to go back to their caring duties with a refreshed sense of purpose. The knowledge that there are people that they can turn to for support.
Results
During the course of the 6 trips young carers were able to meet other young carers from different areas of Fife as well as some from the same area in which they live, they were able to take part in activities they had never tried before such as paddle boarding, although many were nervous at the start through the support from other young carers and staff the nerves soon settled with all young carers enjoying the activities and were excited to share their experiences with their cared for person. During lunch many young carers spent the time discussing their caring role with each other and were shocked to find out other young carers had family members with the same illness as their cared for person so some shared stories with each other and offered support and advice about their own personal experiences, this allowed young carers to feel motivated through the peer support and encouraged carers to exchange contact details and remain in contact with each other.
Case study
Two girls from different areas who had never met before were very nervous when attending a day at Cluny Clays, they were originally meant to be in different groups however when staff noticed how nervous both girls were it was decided to place them in a group together. The morning was spent with the girls being very nervous and shy, the staff member encouraged the girls to talk with each other, after the first activity the girls started to relax and talk to each other, by lunch time the girls had clearly bonded and were proud to say they had only just met but felt they had a good friendship; throughout the day this bond grew stronger. The girls showed lots of delight, when a small change was made so they could be together for the day. The girls spent the day filled with lots of giggling and supporting each other, cheering each other on, and generally being two friends who were enjoying spending the day together. Both girls have a similar caring role, helping with a sibling so were able to offer each other lots of support and advice about their caring role throughout their day. They ensured they had each others’ contact details before they left so they can continue to stay in touch with each other.
The girls enjoyed their day trying out new things in, particularly as neither had had the opportunity to try these things before and said they would love to attend more days like this and hopefully attend with their families.
Before meeting each other neither girl had discussed their cared for in any detail with another. They stated they felt able to do this with each other as they were the same age and their caring roles were similar.