I will be climbing Pen y Fan to raise money to help provide respite activities for Young Adult Carers aged 16-25 who access Swansea Young Adult Carers Project at Swansea Carers Centre.

Date subject to weather, Saturday 14th July or Saturday 4th August

I run Swansea Young Adult Carers Project , which supports 16-25 year olds who provide caring roles to loved ones such a family, friends or even neighbours. They could be caring for a variety of reasons including disabilities, life limiting health conditions, mental health or drug/alcohol misuse.

These incredible young people are juggling their caring responsibilities on top of the regular challenges of early adult life such as education, finding employment and learning the ways of adult responsibilities, often with little or no guidance or support from understanding peers, relatives, educators or employers. The YAC project at Swansea Carers Centre gives these young people the retreat and support they need to navigate through their unique situations.

How the Project Began

In 2015, during my final year of my Youth and Community Work degree I decided to campaign for change. I had realised that once I turned 18 there weren't any services available that would suit my needs as a young person with caring responsibilities. I had been part of the Young Carers Project and talked to the people who had left the project when they turned 18. They all admitted they felt lost and alone. This is why I decided to campaign and make change to have a Young Adult Carers Project set up specifically for over 18 year olds to help them transition to adulthood.

Swansea Carers Centre is there for the carers in Swansea, however it didn't have a specific service which helped transition these young carers to becoming adult carers and know how to juggle all the extra responsibilities and challenges they will face once becoming an adult. This is a challenging period in their lives where they are making big decisions of whether to care full time, start work or even better themselves and go onto University education.

Since September 2015, Swansea Carers Centre has been running a Young Adult Carers Project . The project provides a break for these young adult carers, through twice a month youth club, trips and one-to-one support.

How your money will help

All money raised will go towards supporting the Young Adult Carers Project in providing respite activities to give them a well deserved break from their caring roles. These activities make such a difference to the lives of these young people as they are provided with important downtime while connecting with other Young Adult Carers in a community of support and understanding.

Life as a Young Adult Carer

Our Young Adult Carers applied for funding to create a documentary on what life is like as a Young Adult Carers, they also filmed, edited and launched the documentary themselves with support from Staff. Please watch the documentary to understand what life is like for these amazing unsung heroes in our community.