PICTURES PHOTOS POEMS & STORIES

A

NARRATIVE ACCOUNT OF A VERY BUSY YEAR

FEATURING NEWS, VIEWS & COMMENTARY OF MEMORIES APLENTY OF TIME OUT OF CARING ROLES & TIME TO EXPLORE WHAT IT IS TO BE YOUNG...

PCS strives to offer support to all unpaid carers in Powys We listen to what Carers tell us about our service and try to ensure

that we meet the needs of this vast and complex community If you have anything you would like to say about our service

PLEASE GET IN TOUCH

Powys Carers Service exists to improve the quality of life and well being of both young and adult carers, throughout Powys

Welcome to this Annual Review of 2013

The edition is full of news, views and memories of a great year gone by...

I hope you enjoy looking back and reflecting on some shared time with PCS

All the best for 2014

Dux Team Leader the PCs Young Carer & Young Adult Carer Team

Contents

Page 3 Headlines & a few statistics Page 4 Some achievements Page 5 Make Some Noise P 6&7 A Collection of Memories P 8&9 ME&MINE P 10&11 The Great Outdoors P12&13 Mellowcroft P 14&15 Some More Memories P 16&17 Groups Page 18 1st Aid & Theatre Page 19 About Time & other joys.. P20&21 Listen Up Page 22 Some Poems Page 23 A Final Gallery

Who Cares & Why In Powys more than 530 Registered Young Carers &

Young Adult Carers offer a range of care and support to a family member.

The Cared-For Conditions include :

Physical illness & Disability 262 Mental Health & Behavioural Conditions 137 Autistic Spectrum Disorder 69 Learning Disability 36 Substance Misuse 19 MH & SM ( Dual Diagnosis ) 4 Dementia 2 End of Life 1

Groups & Activities

Groups £ 6,050 Group Transport £ 2,880 Activities £10,620 1:1 & Go Easy £ 1,450 Total Spend £21,000

Staffing Employment £126,107 Office & Admin £ 17,477 Travel £ 12,861 Training £ 1,202 Misc £ 1,050 Total £158,697

Young Carers Registered (under 16s)

North Mid South Total Sep 2012 124 69 58 251 Sep 2013 170 74 86 330

Young Adult Carers Registered (16-25)

North Mid South Total Sep 2012 66 57 51 174 Sep 2013 78 65 65 202

In delivering our bespoke service to Young Carers in Powys the team drove

41,400 miles This is an average of

3450 miles per month

( & that’s a lot of driving )

Total number of interventions

=

3776

In 2013 PCS recorded a 32% increase in number of Registered Young Carers 16% increase in number of Registered Young Adult Carers

MORE THAN JUST TRIPS… Our one-to-one work supporting individual Young Carers and Young Adult Carers covers a wide range of services

including information & advice, emotional and practical support, signposting, advocacy & training..

We record this work as INTERVENTIONS and they

happen in various ways... Young Carers Young Adult Carers Face to Face 879 386 Telephone support 939 530 Multi-Agency 176 39 Other 602 225 Total 2596 1180

In total more than 240 YCs/YACs benefitted from one-to-one support throughout 2013

PCS gratefully acknowledges the ongoing financial support of Powys County Council, The Carers Trust, The Waterloo Foundation, BBC Children in Need, Henry Smith, The Lions,

The Rotarians, YouthBank, The Co-op, Powys Teaching Health Board, Arts Connection, Awards for All, Lankelly Chase & other generous contributors

Danny’s Award Well done to Danny Percy who won the Lions District Final for Young Am-

bassador of the year! Danny was recognised for being actively involved in

the welfare of his community. Back in January last year Danny delivered an

impressive presentation competing against 60 clubs in the district. Candi-

dates were judged on their extent of involvement in community service,

personality, and leadership skills. Danny was successful in winning the Dis-

trict Final representing Llandrindod Wells and was awarded with a bursary

of £500 for the Mid Powys Young Carers group. Danny has chosen to spend

the bursay on film and animation workshops for our young carers groups. He

believes these workshops will help you to express yourselves, gain new

skills, and raise the profile of young carers. A very BIG thank you and Well

done to Danny!

Christ College Chapel Laura and Olivia presented a

talk about Powys Young Carers in the Chapel @ Christ College,

Brecon.

Thank you Christ College teachers and pupils for being so welcoming and supporting Laura and Olivia on the day

( & thank you to Laura and Oliv-ia too.. ) Young Carers Laura Jones and

Olivia Davies from Brecon High School spoke up for Young Carers at the Powys Carers Conference in 2013, presenting their a speech about their experiences being a Carer. Well done for not just repre-senting yourselves so well on the day, but speaking on behalf of all Young Carers in Powys Carers Ser-vice.

Mid Powys Young Carers were awarded a

cheque for £150 from the local Recycling

Award towards YC Club costs & activities.

RECORDS OF ACHIEVEMENT

PCS in association with Powys Youth Service have begun using the ROA scheme as a way of rec-ognising achievement in our mem-

bers. In 2013 xxx ROAs were awarded in a number of

Curriculum Areas including

Citizenship / Arts / Health

ROA’s

x 11 Water stories Project

x 9 Make Some Noise Project

x 9 Forest School Project

x 20 First Aid Training

x 12 Youth Bank Presentations

x 3 Supporting Conferences

Well Done to all involved..

Hopefully there will be many more

in 2014

Some comments from the MSN CREW “ I loved this weekend it really brought me back to being me. I loved seeing Lucy and Malachy is one of my favourite authors and I got to meet him , My favourite book when I was growing up was ‘ The Tiger Who Came To Tea’ and Malachy wrote it! “ The whole experience has been the best the girls and boys we met were lovely and the authors were amazing. This has been more than wow. At the end of the weekend J read out a piece she had written I have never heard her do this as she has never felt comfort-able” “ It was amazing as a whole. I love learning different techniques and exercises. It helped me a lot “ “ This weekend was a great weekend as I got to make new friends, express my feelings. I got to meet 2 very different authors with greatness in both of them.”

“I used to be a closet writer, the

project has given me confidence in

sharing my work. Since working on

this project I have transferred my

skills by using them in other projects

such as a filming project I was re-

cently involved with. I wouldn’t have

been able to do this without this ex-

perience. It was a great opportunity”

In May 2013 a group of YAC's enjoyed be-

ing part of a weekend creative writing pro-

ject at Ty Newydd- The National Writing

Centre of Wales. The YAC's met other

YC's from Caerphilly and friendships were

made. We enjoyed workshops with 2

young people's authors, Lucy and Malachy

on how to write short stories and poems.

We had a beautiful walk along the beach

where we found treasures to write about.

The food was great thanks to the on-site

chefs and the old house was great for ex-

ploring and playing hide and seeks. On the

last night we enjoyed listening to the au-

thors talking about their lives and read

snippets from out of their books. The finale

was sharing our creative pieces of writing

that were read to the whole group. It's

great to have so many budding authors

amongst us. We would like to say a huge

thank you to Literature Wales and the au-

thors for a fantastic weekend.

A POEM by AH

“When I’m a son I’m helping my mum,

She has a disability which limits her capability,

When I’m a young carer that helps out at home,

It can be tough but you rarely hear me moan.

When I’m a school kid I keep my head down,

They dish out the homework and I try not to drown.

I left friends behind in my old school but I’ve

moved onto new,

Choosing them carefully is what I tend to do”

“ MORE

THAN

WOW... “

Water Stories

Twelve Young Carers enjoyed being part of a three

day music project at Mellowcroft. The Young Carers

enjoyed finding out about global citizenship, environ-

mental issues and how to live sustainably. The en-

joyed time exploring in the woods, stomping in the

mud, and discovering all types of different eco builds.

The Young Carers created a musical performance

about water through writing songs, and creating an

orchestra out of instruments they made with recycled

materials. We would like to say a very big Thank You

to Camilla from Footloose Community Arts, and Eddie

and Kim at Mellowcroft.

Bowling Nights

The four Bowling nights at U-strike in Newtown were fully booked and great fun. New faces every session

and a few familiar ones. About 12 YACs attended each of the nights for 2 rounds of bowling and burger and

chips meal. It was a great opportunity for new faces to meet up and share ideas of what support we can offer YACs in Montgomeryshire. The venue staff were great

hosts and did us an unbeatable deal. The last night even got an extra game. A lot of people agreed that this is something they would love to do again and would be willing to pay a little more which would help our budget

no end. Less cost means more trips!

Telford Ice Skating A full bus of YACs and Young Carers headed through the snow to the ice skating rink in Telford. While the YACs started the day with some serious shopping, the Young Carers headed for the giant park and were met with over 6 inches of snow over everything. This did not stop them enjoying the park and only added snow men and an opportunity to pelt Steve with snowballs ( which everyone took ad-vantage of! Ow!) After a packed lunch the groups joined up for the ice skating. It was incredible to see so many smiles and watch the growing confidence as everyone started to glide with ever increasing elegance—well maybe not Rhys! Even the staff were gliding around like profession-als and one member of staff even offered to stop after 15 seconds so that no one would feel bad about coming off the ice! A very enjoyable outing for all.

The YAC Christmas trip involved a slap up feast at the 4 Star Prince Rupert Hotel in Shrewsbury, fol-lowed by some indoor bowling and rounded off with an evening visit to the Christmas market. 23 YACs enjoyed four courses of Christmas dinner. Crackers pulled, part pop-pers popped and bellies filled. The meal was excellent and so was the venue. Next stop was the Bowling Alley. People didn’t know whether to bowl a ball or Parky’s festive belly! When the games began it became clear that we were all going to be given a bowling lesson by Ross. A professional standard final score but the session was full of a lot of professional moves—even though some sent the ball in completely the wrong direction and nearly into someones lap.

David and Callum tried to adopt a Gangnam style to their bowling but it didn’t help the scoreline. Good fun was had by all. The final activity on the trip was the walk to the Christmas Mar-ket. Everyone had a bit of free time to explore the stalls and the surrounding shops. A number of people used the coffee shop to rest and soak up the atmosphere while others drifted back with last minute presents for friends and families. By the time every-one had returned for the walk to the bus it was clear that every-one had forgotten the important rule of only buying presents for the staff! Fair play to Sally, Michelle and Steve, they just wiped away the tears and car-ried on with a smile on their fac-es.

Young Carers from Brecon enjoyed Finding Joy and sharing sweets – A beautiful, sensitive and incredible play about a lad caring for his gran. A lovely mix of age, the Young Carers commented on the lovely vibe of the group and how at ease they all felt together, passing along their sweets together all sharing everything they had. At first they questioned the mime essence of the play, then all agreeing they wouldn’t have want-

ed it any other way. The trip to see FINDING JOY was a treat for all!!!

THE ME&MINE CULMINATION

“ an amazing event full of colour, creativity and collaboration..” Thursday 30

th May turned out to be day of fair weather and fine friendship as more than 70

Young Carers came from all over the County and took part in the final showcase event. Workshops in-cluded Woodwork & Gypsy Flowers with Richie, Wool&Felt Flowers with Sue, Willow Bird puppets with Caroline & Tish, Words and Poetry with Martin, Circus games with James & Dom and impromptu acro-batics with Dux. The setting was fantastic and the Dome glowed with energy.. a cinema was set up in a Bedouin Tent which showed the Me&Mine film on a loop, a gallery was created in the Old Conservatory and featured portraits of the M&M adventure.. approx 50 additional guests came to the day with attend-

ance from colleagues from Youth Service, Social Services, Health & the Local Council.. Passersby stopped to join in the fun and lots of positive promotion was generated…

PCS used the day to conduct some additional research and an open evaluation took place..

some of the quotes gathered from Young Carers include..

“ I love me&mine – its been so nice to be able to meet up with the guys from Welshpool again – we made friends on the camp and haven’t seen each other since – thank you for making this possible “

“ young carers is so much fun.. ive made two flowers, one for my mum and one for my nan – I think they will love them… Ive made a bird aswell.. it looks a bit funny but that’s alright.. “

“ thanks for helping me with the stilts.. im sooooo tall now “

And from professional colleagues..

“ you make it all look so easy and I know that it isn’t.. putting on an event like this requires lots of plan-

ning – you should congratulate yourselfs on being successful “

“ Powys Young Carers Service is brilliant – I don’t think there is another service in Wales who can guar-antee such a ‘bang for your buck’.. you guys rock.

We also had a visit from members of Powys Youth Forum, TOWIP and the Website Wafflers – a film of the Me&Mine project is available on the PCS website - have a look and enjoy the memories...

“In sum the day was a suitable climax to an incredible three year pro-ject.. all of the Young Carers who came seemed to relax and enjoy the

time out of their caring role and immersed themselves in a peer to peer party of peerless arts… “

PCS would like to acknowledge & offer thanks to Arts Connection for their ceaseless hardwork over the 3 year Me&Mine Project. We would also like to thank all of the art-

ists and enablers who contributed soooo much. Finally we would like to say a

HUGE THANK YOU TO LANKELLY CHASE the generous funders of this transformational project

“ it was great to come together again and make the Birds – I also really enjoyed work-ing with the poet guy – he just let us talk about things the way we normally do but then

showed us that this was poetry. I’ve been to every year of Me&Mine and it just keeps getting better – can you bring the dome to our School please? “

Seven Mid Powys Young Carers chose to take part in an exciting forest school project at Cefn Woods during the summer holi-days. Forest school is all about being outdoors and learning in a woodland environment. The Young Carers enjoyed doing all sorts of exciting activities such as building dens and shelters, learn-ing how to make a campfire, cooking on a campfire, using tools to make woodwork crafts. Over the three weeks I noticed an increase in their confidence, en-thusiasm, problem solving skills, and emotional well- being. New friendships developed which was lovely to see and the dynamics of differing ages worked well with the older YC’s mentoring the younger ones. It was a great ex-perience for all involved. Powys Carers Service would like to say a big Thank You to Simon and An-nie for providing us with all sorts of fun and adventures in the woods!

THANK YOU!!!

“The highlights for me during Forest School were cooking things on the campfire, den building and making and carving my stool and the

sign. I learnt a new skill on how to craft wood and to be artistic with it. Annie and Simon were brilliant and great fun! My confidence got

much better as the days went on and started to enjoy it more and more! It was good to have a break away from caring as I got to have

fun and had my own space. I enjoyed everything about Forest Schools and would definitely do it again if I got the chance to.

Ethan Palmer

“ Young Carers

seem to love the chance to

meet up in a large group

and just hang out together

or play. We have found out,

that f or many, this and oth-

er such PCS summer activ-

ities are often one of the

few times that they will

have had chance to enjoy

the seaside or just to be

young people enjoying a

day out. “

“ In total we were able to offer over 350 places on trips and adventures throughout the year.. We are pleased to be able to report that over 200 individual Young and Young Adult Carers joined us either On a lake or on a canal At a park or at a picnic On a bus or on a train At a theatre, museum or

gallery In the woods and in the wilds Or in a city spending time in

TOGETHERNESS “

One fine day in the summer..

“ We donned our life jackets and Joe gave everyone a bit

of instructing on how to hold the paddles and be safe. Then we

sorted out who was going in which canoe, we had 4 canoes and

we launched them into the canal. Then we zigzagged our way

from one side of the bank to the other, slowly mastering the art of

paddling and steering, enjoying the beauty and peace that the

canal offered us.

We went a fair distance up the canal, before Steve decid-

ed he wanted his lunch, so we zigzagged back to the café and

pulled the canoes out, before collecting our packed lunches and

buying the odd cuppa and cake. A couple of wasps tried to join

us, but they were asked to leave. We then re-launched the ca-

noes and zigzagged our way in the other direction, having mini

adventures, getting the canoes under or around the bridge we

came across, before coming to the end of the navigable stretch

of the canal. We tied up our canoes and went on a mini mission

to see if we could spot any large fish (we did), then jumped back

in the canoes and raced (in a zig zag fashion) back to the café

and the minibus.”

‘The compassion and understanding you have shown to my child and your insistence on her inclusion at the Sum-mer camp and the feedback about her experiences there helped me to feel more confident about her future in a way that i can't really describe. ‘

A Parent

“Today was great because it was good meeting up with all my mates from Plwmp

camp again. I hope we can do it again sometime J J star rating **** 4/5 ” YC

“This was a brilliant day. It was very good and I liked it so much. We liked seeing the treasure chest in the museum, saw all the

old ornaments, I liked the dead horse in

the old cottage” YC

“ its not easy for us as a family to make holidays happen, just wanted to say how grateful we are to you for all the treats you arrange “

Some Comments collected by random ears..

“ I loved it.. Can we pleassssssse come again “

“ .. It was sooooo good. I made lots of new friends and didn't think about

mum once “

“ we played Frisbee, cricket, football and sat by the fire too -

my favourite bit was splashing in the pond and getting wet - it was so hot “

“ I liked making the lanterns and hanging out by the fire..Simple stuff really !

“ it was great, this was my first trip so I was a little bit nervous but every-

one was really kind and made me feel welcome, I would definitely come again “

“ Everyone enjoyed the freedom that Mellowcroft provided…being able to find space to be alone, or space to be with friends or to join as one group…we could be quiet or energetic, creative or relaxed!

Big thanks to our hosts Kim & Eddy and to all the hardworking staff. “ Outreach Workers comments

“A space to build memories”

Big Thanks to Eddie & Kim who made everything so easy for us.. Big Thanks to the Carers Trust who funded this break

under a scheme called “ Time to Find Me “

The funding allowed 40 Young Carers to come together as one

and to celebrate the joys of being young

Mellowcroft is a natural holistic retreat—for more info contact www.mellowcroft.co.uk

Park Hall – February Half Term – 13yrs and under We had a great day out at Park hall farm bouncing in the indoor spaces, climb-ing in the barn spaces and playing on the outdoor park & space hoppers. We also got involved with feeding lambs, cuddling rabbits, cheering on the pig race, trundling on the tractor ride and driving the mini 4x4’s. Good physical outdoor playtime, lots of animals and lots of indoor games too. “ it was great to feed the lambs and to see me friends “

YC aged 11

Llanymynech Rocks– Summer 2013 10 Young carers from the Llanfyllin and Welshpool area joined Sally and volunteer, Tish on a day out at Llanymynech exploring the Lime Kiln, woodland, rocks, views from the top of the hill and canal. We played Tally-O/Blocky off (or whatever your pre-ferred name is) among the dark tunnelled hall that was the old Lime Kiln, we played non-stop cricket/rounders out in the basking sunshine and we stomped up the hill to see a birds eye view of where we live. It was a baking hot day and we enjoyed the use of a cool stable that we could make drinks in and literally chill out!

Halloween at Craig Y Nos Well what a day, it was so much fun. National Parks hosted the day and were so warm and accommodating with the Young Carers. What a fantastic time with lots of chitter chatter about the day on the coach on the way home. We made spider biscuits, raced on our own witch-es broomsticks and watched the witch create goodie bags from her Cauldron. And some real fun and amazing art work from Young Carers with face-paints.

In September Mid Powys YACs enjoyed a

furniture up-cycling workshop at the local

‘Junk & Disorderly’ shop. The YC’s enjoyed a

tour of the shop and learned new creative

skills and painting techniques using specialist

Annie Sloan chalk paint, and patchwork glu-

ing. Each Young Carer was encouraged to

bring something with them to up-cycle. They

thoroughly enjoyed the experience and were

really pleased with their finished pieces. The

YAC’s would like to say a big Thank you to

Patrick who delivered this workshop free of

charge.

Ystrad Young Carers visit to Craig Y Nos for the Spring Picnic The youngest and smallest of all, after cooking marshmallows on an open fire and making Mexican woollen dream catchers, decided she too wanted to go on the zip wire and they only way she could was to stand on a crate. After her little sisters success the oldest sister took up her courage and overcame her fear and did the zip wire too. What a courageous bunch!!!!

“ this was my favourite trip so far.. We were allowed to be near the fire & I loved the marshmallows too “

YC aged 10

Oriel Davies Project Jess, Danny and James were part of an ex-

citing YAC Art Project earlier in the year.

They explored a range of creative skills,

techniques and ideas. The young carers

worked with a local artist called Blue looking

at contemporary art in its broadest sense.

They also enjoyed looking around art galler-

ies. Their art work was showcased at the Ori-

el Davies Gallery in Newtown. Well done to

all three Yacs involved!

8 YACs enjoyed an evening of pampering pleasures. This provided them with some time out to relax and have a break from their caring role. We enjoyed making our own detox smoothies and face masks. We also researched relaxation techniques and healthy living through a selection of books. Monica from the Red Cross provided mas-sage & manicures. It was a quiet space for YACs to simply chill out, catch up with friends, listen to relaxing music, and indulge in some tasty healthy treats. An activity the YACs said they would like to enjoy again.

Young Carers got to Chester Zoo in October

At the entrance each group was given a ‘rainy

day tour’ guide of the zoo, before setting off to witness

whichever beautiful creatures they were drawn to most.

Our small group headed for the giraffes, which never

cease to amaze, with their other worldly strangeness,

and alluring eyes. We also saw chimps, cheetahs, jagu-

ars, Orang-utans, penguins, meercats, rhino’s, beautiful

baby elephants and sea horses, to name but a few. Plus

of course, lions and tigers and bears…

Some people enjoyed the experience of the bat

house, with bats landing on their heads or outstretched

hands, whilst others did not (workers included!).

“thanks for taking me to the zoo!! “

YC aged 10

The Young Peoples Manifesto Launch in Cardiff 5 Young Carers from Montgomeryshire & Brecnockshire took part in a workshop at group with Martin Daws, the Young Peoples Laureate for Wales – as a result of their contributions they were invited to the official Launch of the YPLs Manifesto in Cardiff Bay in June.

“ Martin was great.. he really encouraged us to speak our truth.. I didn’t know that I was a poet

until he told me that I was.. we used ‘ Martins Meaning Machine ‘ which is like a tool to help us

think about things.. I loved it “ YC

In Brecon Well done to Natalie, Emily and Bradley who used their time in group to gain a certificate in

Cookery. This has paid off and been a real ben-efit for group and a special thanks to Bradley

who dedicates his role in group to use his new skills to cook and prepare food for Young Carers

Group. Well done all of you.

IN WELSHPOOL...The numbers attending the Welshpool group grew

and grew over the course of the year with an average of 15 attending in autumn to an average of 25 with a high of 28 by the summer. A couple of nights with no access to the mini bus in the spring had provided a reason to focus in on younger and older age groups. These nights had been enjoyed by both groups who recognised the special attention they could receive. We agreed to try out a new pattern where once a month each age range had its own focussed night. The feedback has been very positive.. The focussed nights in the summer allowed use of the mini bus to take the now smaller group out to the woods, golf range and up to an outdoor pursuit centre. These more costly nights were funded by a grant from YouthBank. The weather was so good throughout June that many of our club nights included playtime at the park. It was a pleasure to see all ages enjoying this facility and enjoying each other… the group has developed a strong and positive culture where friendships are strong.

Reflections from a Young Carer……”My life now” “Before I started coming to clubs I was hanging around with the wrong people who broke the law. We were often involved with criminal damage, tres-passing and stealing. Life at home was stressful and it was my way of getting away from it all. Then one day someone visited my house and told me about Young Carers support. They told me about the clubs and I thought I’d like to meet some new people sim-ilar to me. Coming to the clubs has changed my atti-tude to a lot of things. Like now when my mum or dad asks me to do something I’ll do it. I’m also be-coming more sociable each day and I’ve got more confidence in myself. I’ve been introduced to new things like writing rap songs. My goals in life have

changed and now as I realise there’s all sorts of paths I could take, for exam-ple mechanics, music, or even wrestling. I’m looking forward to my future. Fam-ily life has improved a lot too. I used to fight with my brother every day but now we get along much better cos I understand him more and what he’s going through with his autism. At

Young Carers I’ve got friends I can trust and I’m starting to let people in a bit more” Anonymous: Mid Powys Young Carer aged 15yrs

“The street dancing was a great experience. The dance teacher was really good. I learned lots of new moves and it was good fun. I’d definitely like to continue in the future” Shandiqua

“I feel safe like I can trust people at club. They won’t make fun of me or go off and tell other

people. I feel like I can be honest about my feelings cos it’s safe there”

comment from YC in the Mid

Newtown club

Newtown club has seen some changes this

year. We decided to split the age groups, so that each

club session will be more tailored to suite the ages of

the young carers attending. So unfortunately we have

moved away from our weekly sessions to every other

week, so that we can alternate who enjoys club that

Monday. Since this change has been implemented we

have had the occasional all ages session. Otherwise

we are split into 13 years and under and 14 years and

over.

One of our sessions was a picnic in the woods,

where we enjoyed exploring the woodland, gathering

sticks and eating our food around a fire which some

helped light and tend. We rounded off our session

with a pointy stick creating lesson ready for a mass

marshmallow toasting session. We are hoping to ex-

pand on this experience with the older young carers

next year, when the warm weather returns and also

organise at least one picnic in a rural location, for the

younger group.

Another all-ages session was our end of sum-

mer picnic in Newtown park, where some enjoyed a

game of rounder’s, others played with circus equip-

ment and generally lozzacked about in small groups,

enjoying the great outdoors.

With some Youth Bank money we were lucky

enough to be awarded, we invited Professor Panic to

come and teach us some circus skills. On another oc-

casion we invited the lovely Sarah to show us what we

could achieve with a hula hoop or two or three or even

four!

Many sessions at club centre around simple

food and simple play, we now have a program of ac-

tivities which we offer for those who are keen to take

part. But young carers clubs are about time out for

you to be with others who share some of your experi-

ences of what life can be like as a young carer.

Ystrad Young Carers &Young Adult Carers Group Relaunch in February 2013

25 young carers and young adult carers arrived at Maesydderwen School for the re launch of the new Ystradgynlais Young Carers group. Introductions were made and preferences identified and it was

agreed dodge ball should commence. Fast and fu-rious, staff included, an hour flew past until thirstily we ascended the newly refurbished stairs for the art room. There, squash and tea were laid on to everyone’s relief, before we began to draw the

greatest of the Welsh mythological beasts out of the clay, and created a wonderful dragon. Not only that, in between creating the dragon and the dodge

ball, the most fabulous collection of personalised stencilled t-shirts was created; arts and crafty shirts, football shirts, American 50’s pop and farmer’s t-shirts. A great new group begins...

To the theatre again at February half-term – this time to Theatr Brycheiniog to see ‘The Elephant Brdesmaid’ with a group of 8 very

young young carers. This delightful show had just the right balance of games, songs and ani-

mal antics (especially elephant ones)to keep everybody entertained.

The show consisted of a story within a story featuring a teenage witch called Natascha with a messy room and a knotty problem – she’s going to be a bridesmaid but she doesn’t have a dress to wear! Her magician father (with some help from the audience) tells her the story of Nessie –

an elephant bridesmaid who has the same problem.

At one point we were transported us to an Australian jungle populated with all sorts of colourful characters. Everything ends happily with Nessie

and Natascha both finding beautiful dresses for their respective wed-dings.

The costumes and sets were great and the show was pitched at just the

right level for the age group.

Basic First Aid Training Powys Carers Service asked Powys County Council for fund-ing towards four first aid training sessions for Young Carers. The Red Cross were approached to lead the training in Welshpool, Newtown, Llandrindod and Brecon over the au-

tumn half term holidays. The take –up was fantastic with all courses ful-ly booked and more. The trainers covered the basics of first aid includ-ing CPR, the recovery position, dealing with cuts and bleeding and gave the group some scenarios to act out. It was very practical, hands on and good fun as well as being informative. All the young people felt more confident about dealing with an emergency after the training… though it has to be said, many were very knowledgeable at the start.The training was held at the counties leisure centres and the participants were invit-ed to a swim session afterwards and some snacks.

First-Aid Training in Llandrindod

The Llandrindod group of 8 young carer first-aiders came together at the Lei-

sure Centre and were put through their paces by Bethan from the Red Cross.

We had a delicious buffet lunch before we got started on the serious stuff. Lots

of us had done some first-aid training before either at school or in other groups

like scouts or St John’s Ambulance but it’s always good to refresh our

knowledge and practise skills which have a tendency to get a bit rusty if they’re

not used regularly. It was quite impressive to see how much people knew al-

ready.

Most hands shot up with answers to all Bethan’s

questions.

The training covered basic but essential topics: what to do when dealing with a casualty, re-

membering your DR ABC, how to put someone in the recovery position which we practised in

pairs. We also had a go at bandaging which created some interesting results. Little Annie came

out of her case us to help with CPR – most people were surprised at how much strength and

stamina you need to keep going with chest compressions while waiting for the ambulance! Be-

than also brought our knowledge up to speed about bleeding, burns and fractures.

The session was a good combination of fun and learning – and lunch.

“That was the best thing at the Theatre I think I have ever seen” Zoe said.

A small group of my Young Adult Carers and my volunteer Jules met up at Brecon Theatre to see this to-tally LOL play. Described as a rollicking ride from start to finish, it really didn’t disappoint

Thank you for joining me and lovely to catch up with my volunteer Jules again.

GO EASY

PCS are pleased & proud to have deepened our working relationship with the Carers Trust. In 2013 YACs from Powys have been instrumen-tal in the development of the newly launched TIME FOR CHANGE ( T4C ) programme of funding. This funding stream has been enabled by the Carers Trust being the

Pictured above are Dux, Georgie & Ieuan ( & friends from all over the UK ) who have been working together to develop the T4C programme. Both of our YACs have enjoyed training to develop their skills around Grant Making & Media and have both contributed a fantastic amount of hard work to the process. The first round of Grants were made in November 2013 and the next round will be open in 2014. PCS expect to make an appli-cation to support the development of our work with Young Adult Carers.

Other funding news… 2013 has been difficult in terms of new funding. We are hugely grateful for the ongoing support from BBC Children in Need, Henry Smith & The Waterloo Foundation which enables much of our core work. We would like to acknowledge an Awards for All grant that has helped us to plan deliver some extra special

trips for some extra special young people. We would like to thank the Rotarians of Powys - without you our pockets would be lighter

We would also like to acknowledge a number of private donations towards our project YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE & YOU KNOW HOW GRATEFUL WE ARE… DIOLCH

Thanks to some of the members of the PCS Carers Champions network who helped to develop the

YOUNG CARERS TOOLKIT : a new resource for professionals This toolkit was commissioned by the Welsh Government has was devised by our colleagues at YouthFriendly The toolkit aims to help professionals working with Young Carers in Wales and has lots of useful tips & ideas

You can find the toolkit @ www.youngcarerstoolkit.co.uk

GO EASY

Thanks to the PCS GO EASY Scheme There are currently 6 Young Adult Carers in Powys who are enjoying the additional freedom of GO EASY Wheels.. If you are a YAC and would like to know more please speak to you Outreach Worker.

BIG THANKS TO

& ALL @

POWYS YOUTH

SERVICE

OUR PARTNERSHIP

IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE

DIOLCH

Martine would like to say… A BIG Thank you to our volunteers…

Back in July we said goodbye to Molly and Raffy our volunteers who helped out at Mid Powys Young carers Clubs. We are sad to see them go but wish them both the best of luck in the future! Molly is off on a round the world trip

adventure! And Raffy will be starting University to study Biochemistry. A welcome to Paul and Kim……

If you know anyone that would be interested in volunteering some time to

help support Young Carers please ask them to contact our main office on:

01597823800

Sally sez... “ Hi Everyone, Another year of great adventures has flown by. In the North our numbers in-creased as the recognition of ‘Young Carer’ has grown. There seems to be more professionals working in schools and hearing the sto-ries from the lives of the Young people. We have counsellors, youth workers, school nurses, drug and alcohol work-ers as well as heads of years, key stage workers, pastoral support and nurture groups. With the good connections Young Car-ers have within schools we are being seen as great source of support for many previously unidentified young people. Welshpool group has doubled in num-bers from this time last year and as such the group is much livelier than previous! Sally is supporting a new school lunchtime drop in at Welshpool High on a Tuesday and also makes individual appointments at Welshpool and Llanfyllin high schools aswell as the feeder primary schools. For many of you the greatest support comes via the friendships you make within club or on trips. I notice the openness you can have with other Young Carers about difficulties at home, taboo subjects such as mental illness or alcohol misuse, and the sup-port that this openness brings. I recog-nise these friendships are trusted and different to the ones you share with school friends who often cannot relate to your home situation or responsibili-ties. I love my role as outreach worker and feel privileged to be invited into your private worlds of family, responsibility and at time difficulty and upset.”

Celia sez.. “ Ive been working with

Young Carers for over 10 years now and I still enjoy the

time I spend with you. Im working more with Adult Car-

ers now but I’m still around and looking forward to catch-ing up with some of you very

soon.”

A few words from Kathryn.................... 2013 has been full of lots of different things. I have seen smiles

and laughter. Lots of memories have been made. It's now my 4th year working at Powys Carers Service as a

Young Adult Carers Outreach Worker and Advocate in Mid Pow-ys. I enjoy my varied role with young and young adult carers and their families. I'm at the end of the phone, email or Face book if I

can help in anyway. Looking forward to working with you all in

What you have told us Every year we ask for feedback on our work

In 2013 we sent out a survey, here are some of the results

GROUPS

Have you made friends whilst at group? 78% said YES

Is it easy to get involved and be involved? 100% said YES

Would you recommend it to others? 90% said Yes ( 10% said sort of )

How are the activities? 73% said GOOD & 27% said FAIR

How is the food? 60% said GOOD & 40% said FAIR

How is the travel? 82% said GOOD ,4% said FAIR & 14% said BAD

How is staff support? 86% said Good 14% said FAIR

Trips & Events

Is it easy to get involved and be involved? 100% said YES

Would you recommend it to others? 90% said Yes ( 10% said sort of )

How are the activities? 84% said GOOD & 16% said FAIR

How is the food? 68% said GOOD, 26% said FAIR & 6% said BAD

How is the travel? 84% said GOOD ,16% said FAIR

How is staff support? 100% said Good

We will keep on Listening and try to improve where we can!!!

Steve sez… “ This has been my first year with Powys Carers and I have enjoyed it im-mensely. It has been incredibly varied, challenging and exciting. I have spent time working with families, individuals and with groups. There have been some amazing trips and activities that I have had the privilege of being in-volved with and it has been clear to see the massive impact it has on all the young people attending. I have lost count of the number of smiles and laughs I have shared over the year. There have also been a number of tears and cre-ating the opportunity for carers to share their concerns and worries has been very therapeutic. This has been most evident with the work with YACs over the year. Due to budget limits we have been slightly delayed on the plans to set up a regular group meeting in a number of areas in Montgomeryshire. This is still a plan for me and I will endeavour to improve the service we can offer to YACs all over the county.As ever I am at the end of the phone or email if I can help in any way or if you have some ideas of how I can improve the way I support you. I look forward to working with you during 2014.”

Lucy Sez “This year we have set up the

Ystradgynlais’ Young Carers and Young Adult Car-ers Group in Maesydderwen school, and we’ve raised over £280 for the group. Plus we’ve been off out and about all over the place, Cardiff, Swansea, Carmarthenshire, Brecon and Llan-drindod. Sometimes just with the youngest young carers, sometimes just with the older young carers and sometimes all together, but whoever I’m with, I must say I feel privileged to work with you all and am glad we’ve had the chance to meet. I want to say a huge thank you to the young carers, the young adult carers and all the families, for your support and, on all our behalves, a huge thank you Auriol, Cat and Kay for their voluntary support. And finally, here’s to meeting our challenges with inven-tiveness, enthusiasm and courage again next year.”

Jane sez…. “ Five years in my job - and I have known and grown with many of you through this time. Sounds soppy but I am genuinely proud of so many of your achievements through the year, and what you con-tribute to Young Carers. It may be what skills and kind-ness you bring to Young Car-ers Group or what you your-selves have achieved with cer-tificates or simply making good choices about important things. You all bring different and positive, quirky qualities to Young Carers that I wouldn’t be without… 5 years older and wiser and enjoying all the fun.”

A Bit About Michelle I have been working for Powys Carers as a

Young Carers Outreach Worker for nearly six years now and have enjoyed meeting a rich variety of young carers and their families, who it is a privi-

lege to work with. The work I do is varied, ranging from fund

raising, to organising trips and activities which can be for hours, a day or sometimes over several

nights. Many of these opportunities are dependant on external funding, so we never know what we

can offer until the year unfolds and opportunities arise.Much of my work is also spent supporting

young carers in schools, liaising with teachers or other agencies to support you, or seeing you on a

one to one basis as frequently as you desire or my busy diary can accommodate.

PCS sez… Do you like to whisper??? …..And how loud can you shout???? You may not think it but your voice is very important to us, and no we are not asking you to join a choir! We have a Carers Voice project which is aimed at making sure that the people who provide help to Young Carers and their families listen to how Young Carers would like that help to be given, or on any other is-sue that you want to shout about. We would like YOU to tell us what you think? What do you think is im-portant to Young Carers? You can tell us by whispering in the ear of your Outreach worker….or by calling me on the phone, in an email or on facebook…. 01597 823 800 info@powyscarers.org.uk facebook: Powys Carers Service And the Voices project will do the shouting for you!!!!

Some poems from 2013 Under the Sun Stay up high Don’t fall to the ground Be careful of what you say There’s a consequence for Your actions Don’t take the consequence- Push, push them away Try to avoid them Try to stay out of their way. Watch where you are going Because that’s where they occur Try watching where you are going Then you will not get hurt. Try to protect yourself Then they will start to fade away They may be hiding on the pathway Just watch where you are going.

By CW Behind the happiness The smiles The kindness The hugs There’s a shyness that misses you That hides what’s really me That hides behind a shadow A shadow that overcomes me Swallows up my words Turns my brother into a monster Punches me Pinches me Corners me into a wall Makes me want to stay in bed Makes me want to cry Makes me want to scream and shout And I want him to go away But then this isn’t really me It’s just a part of my life

By BB

If you would like to send us a poem or a story for the next edition

PLEASE DO!! Some of the many faces !!!

Have you found yourself yet?

Byddai PCS yn hoffi i gydnabod yn gy-hoeddus y gefnogaeth barhaus ein holl bart-neriaid a chyllidwyr. Diolch yn fawr i chi. PCS would like to publicly acknowledge the continued support of all of our partners and funders. Thank you so much.

Powys Carers Service is an independent organisation. We are both a Registered Charity (Charity No. 1103712) and a Company Limited by Guarantee (Reg No. 4779458).

Established in 2003, we are run by a group of volunteer Trustees. If you would like more information about the

Trustees, including how to join the Board of Trustees, please contact Marie Davies, Company Secretary on 01597 823800.

Powys Young Carers and the Young Adult Carers Advocates are two elements of the services that Powys Car-ers Service provides, we also have an Adult Carers Service, Older Carers Advocacy and the Voices Projects.

For more information about all of our services please call us on 01597 823800 or visit our website www.powyscarers.org.uk

The Powys Young Carers Team. Gyles Palmer CEO Dux Team Leader Sally Duckers Welshpool & Llanfyllin High School areas Michelle Brydie Llanfair Caereinion & Newtown High School areas Steve Parkinson Llanidloes & Newtown High School areas Celia Milne East Radnorshire (Knighton & Presteigne) Martine Johnson Llandrindod, Rhayader & Builth Jane Fletcher Hay, Brecon & Crickhowell Lucy Hodges Ystradgynlais Lucy Taylor Participation (Voices) Officer Marie Davies Admin/Finance Officer & Company Secretary Amanda Morgan Admin Assistant

Fundraising – If you would like to fundraise for or donate to Powys Carers Service (we are a Registered Charity)

please speak to your Outreach Worker or call the Office on 01597 823800.

Volunteers – We would not be able to provide the current levels of support to Young Carers if it wasn’t for our volunteers who give us their time for free – THANK YOU!

If you would like to volunteer with us please contact your Outreach Worker or call the Office on 01597 823800. Roles include Driving/Transport for Young Carers and helping out at Clubs & Trips.