The photos attached were taken by young people between the ages of 12 and 17 who perform a significant caring role for a family member at home. After brainstorming with the group and K&C LINk we decided to undertake this photography project entitled, ‘In Our Space’ for K&C Link’s, ‘R U in the Picture’.
Six young carers went away to take pictures of a space or place that was important to them armed only with their mobile phones. Their remit was to capture something of how and where they like to relax in images. The group then came together a few weeks later to share and discuss their images.
Some of the pictures feature friends, demonstrating how these young people relish the time they are able to spend with their peers. The images show creativity and highlight passions and interests like music, photography, art and literature and they highlight the importance of diverse youth services in the borough, where young carers can mix with other young people in a safe space, away from their responsibilities at home.
The Young Carers Group offers this respite time with weekly activities that work towards achieving the Every Child Matters Outcomes as well as being fun. The activities are shaped by the young carers and their input into our service is invaluable. The discussions prompted by these photographs have helped us to create our summer activity program, which includes a young carers BBQ that is open to friends and family and group exercise activities in Hyde Park. We have also put Aundre, a member of the group, in touch with Golborne Youth Centre, which runs a Youth Arts Music Academy. (This was done as a result of discussions around his image.)
Following the completion of the project completed, the NHS K&C has kindly agreed to donate £1,000.00 of photography equipment to The Young Carers Group so they can continue with their creative & innovative work!
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