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*IMPORTANT NOTE*

To be up to date with the latest news from young carers, including our latest trips and activities programme, please provide us with your email address. That way we can keep you up to date and in the loop on what's happening at YCP! 

BENEFITS CHANGES 

From the 1st April, lots of changes are being introduced to the benefits changes and this may affect you and your family.  To find out more about these changes, Croydon Voluntary Action and Croydon Council are teaming up with other partners to deliver a Benefit changes information day on Friday 19th April.

This free event is for people affected by the benefit changes on Friday 19 April from 10.30am to 2.30pm in the Fairfield Halls, Croydon.  

The event will provide support and advice, interactive workshops on finding a job or training, housing options, childcare, managing money or debt and more. 

Refreshments and a crèche facility will be provided.

For more information about this event, you can download a poster from the  council website. 

RE-REGISTRATION

We want to offer our Young Carers in Croydon the best possible service, in order to achieve this we would like you to update us with your records and current caring circumstances. Please complete:

• Young Carers Update Form - this form is to tell us about your personal information.
• Confidentiality & Consent Document - this form is to update us about who we can/cannot share information with but also about behavioural and parental expectations when Young Carers are taking part in any of our activities.
• MACA Form & PANOC Form - these forms are used to identify caring roles and for us understand the impact of caring. The MACA form is essential but the PANOC form is optional, however, it will be extremely useful for us to target the appropriate level of support.

It is essential that we have this process completed as soon as possible so that it doesn't hinder any support that the Young Carers are entitled to; this includes engaging in any of our services.  If you would like further information please contact Mubin Choudhury on 02086499339 opt 2

Please return to Elisabethwood@carerscontactline.co.uk or post to YCP, 1d Courtyard House, Church Road, Croydon, CR0 1SG

WORKSHOPS AVAILABLE FOR YOUNG CARERS!

In mid-April our mental health support worker, Sabrina Simpson will be runnin wellbeing workshops after school, for young carers in the Project called 'Time 4 me'. These workshops ran last year and were really enjoyed! We covered topics such as bullying, self-esteem and friendships.  Here are a few comments from young carers who attended last year.

• "I enjoyed coming to the sessions as it's a place to make friends"
• "Time 4 me is a place where you can let your feelings out"
• "We have learnt about Disability, Anger, Happiness, School and Community and Stereotypes"
• "Time for me is a place where you can be yourself and have fun."

The sessions will be one day a week for an hour after school. Refreshments will be provided and it will be a nice opportunity to get to meet other Young Carers in the Project.

These workshops are open to anyone in the Project aged 11 and over and so if you are interested, please contact young carers for more details.

ASSERTIVENESS AND CONFIDENCE BUILDING WORKSHOPS

The Young Carers Project has arranged an Assertiveness and Confidence Building workshop for any young carer living in Croydon andaged 16 and above.  If you're interested in attending or finding our more, please call the office or email mubinchoudhury@carerscontactline.co.uk.

This event will take place on Tuesday 28^th May 2013.

DO YOU WANT TO BE OUR YOUNG CARERS CHAMPION?

This year the YCP are launching the "Young Carers Champion" campaign. We would like to appoint a Young Carer (who is currently registered with YCP) to be the Young Carers Champion. This role includes:

• Being the voice for Young Carers
• Listen and understand the needs of Young Carers
• Meet with YCP staff/volunteers and act as the link between Young Carers and the YCP staff.
• Represent Young Carers at YCP staff meetings, YCP Working Group and consultation events (where possible).
• Develop ideas for the delivery of YCP services and contribute to design and publicity.

If you think you've got what it takes to be the Croydon Young Carers Champion then please write a short brief (of no more than 200 words/ half a page of A4) about why you think the Young Carers Champion should be you. Please include what skills and knowledge you have to bring to the role as well as what motivates you. The closing date for all applications has been extended till Friday 3^rd May 2013.We will then be meeting with applicants for an interview before deciding who to appoint.

If you would like further information please contact Mubin Choudhury on 02086499339 opt 2.  Please return to Mubinchoudury@carerscontactline.co.uk or post to YCP, 1d Courtyard House, Church Road, Croydon, CR0 1SG.

SURVEY ON KID TO SCHOOL/SERVICES

The Young Carers Project and DPACT (Disabled Parents & Carers Together) are working together on a piece of research to understand the challenges and difficulties in getting children to school where there is a/are parent/s with a disability or when there are transport difficulties. We want to gather as much information as possible because this issue is affecting some of our families and that some children are simply unable to get to school because there is nobody there to take them, this could mean potential consequences for parents and families being penalised and Young Carers unable to participate in education or extracurricular activities, and we want to change this.

The questionnaire is designed to gather as much information as possible anonymously.  You can download a copy by clicking here.

If you would like us to contact you to discuss further please get in touch.