February 2022 Newsletter - Young Carers

In this update

• Barnardo's Young Carers Service and Schools Transitions Work
• Young Carers Vaccination
• Young Adults Activity Poster - for people between 18 and 25 years old
• Digital Inclusion Survey
• Better Health - NHS food scanner app
• Share your stories with us
• Useful links
• Calendar

Welcome to our latest newsletter, which we hope you find useful and informative. If there's a colleague or another provider in your network that you think would like to receive the newsletter, please feel free to forward it onto them.

Please let us know if you have anything you would like us to share or publicise in a future issue.

Barnardo's Young Carers Service and Schools Transitions Work

Barnardo's Young Carers Service now have additional funding to support schools around transitions for young carers, especially for children in Year 6 who are going up to secondary school in September 2022.

We know from the Time 4 U partnership and our work with young carers in Plymouth, as well as from the recent school survey, that young carers have experienced additional impacts over the last 2 years. Many young carers have remained hidden, found it harder to leave their cared-for relative, and struggled to engage with their education throughout the pandemic.

We will be working with Plymouth Young Carers and delivering some Young Carers Assessment Training for schools, and please watch this space for dates for this training. We will also be working with young carers school leads around the identification of young carers either in Year 6 before transition, or those coming into Year 7 from September on. The aim of this is to make sure young carers and their families are supported through this key change, to reduce young people having to "re-tell their story" to different professionals and to make sure schools have support to put in place strategies and resources within the school.

We can deliver targeted support alongside a young carer lead in school, consultation around young carers assessments to help the school put this training into practice, Relationships Education (RSE) sessions in school to make sure children know about young carers and that support is available, or support to develop and embed a young carers group in school.

All of this is aimed at making sure our local schools are equipped and supported to embed the Plymouth Enhanced Transition Pathway, which includes identification and support for young carers around key transitions.

We will be working with Plymouth's Young Carers Champion (Mike House) to ensure that this compliments the current offer to schools.

If your school is interested in accessing this, please email Lauren Wadey by the end of March 2022. Dependent upon demand we may need to prioritise schools, therefore, please include the number of young carers identified in your school and the number of these young carers who have 90% or less attendance due to their caring responsibilities.

Young Carers Vaccination

What happens if you get ill?

Protect yourself and those you care for. Get the COVID-19 vaccinations and booster now.

If you are vaccinated, you are less likely to:

• become seriously ill
• require hospital treatment or
• pass the virus onto others, including those you care for

National figures of people in intensive care with COVID-19 show:

• 90% have not had the booster
• 60% are unvaccinated

How to get your COVID-19 vaccines and booster

Book through the National Booking Service  or ring 119.

Find a walk-in vaccination site  or an advertised pop-up clinic

If you are worried about queuing, print out the letter on this link to be treated as a priority. 

Your booster must be three months after your second vaccination (and can only be pre-booked online after 2 months - 61 days).

Support with your vaccination

The Devon Vaccine Support Team can provide support for you if required and help arrange your vaccination if you have difficulty leaving those you care for.

To find out more email d-ccg.devonvaccinationsupport@nhs.net or call 01752 398836.

Other steps you can take to help stay safe and protect others against COVID-19:

• Face
  Continue to wear a face-covering if in an enclosed public space or on public transport
• Space
  Keep your distance if you meet with people you don't know
• Ventilate
  If meeting others indoors, make sure that you are in a well-ventilated area. Meeting outdoors is safer.
• Testing
  Use Lateral Flow Tests to check if you have COVID-19

Other support for Unpaid Carers

In the Plymouth City Council area, visit Time 4U, email time4u@plymouth.gov.uk,text or call 07899950155.

Young Adults Activity Poster - for people between 18 and 25 years old

Digital Inclusion Survey

We are collaborating with partners across the city to better understand why people aren't benefitting from the advantages the internet offers and to help those who would like to get online. If you complete services online on behalf of family, friends, we want to hear from you!

Complete our survey by Monday 28 February and you will be entered into a prize draw to win a Samsung Galaxy A40 smartphone and 40GB of 4G data. The winner will be notified by Friday 4 March.

Better Health - NHS food scanner app

Please see the attached flyer outlining details and links to downloadable and orderable resources for schools to share with parents and pupils regarding the NHS Food Scanner App, which aims to encourage children, young people and their parents to explore what's in their food and make healthier choices.

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This page was last updated on 1 December 2022.