Summary
The Young Carers Connect project provided meaningful short breaks and respite opportunities for young carers across Lanarkshire, helping them take time away from their caring responsibilities and focus on their own wellbeing, interests and personal development. The project delivered a range of support including: one-to-one befriending support, regular group sessions and social activities, day trips, outings and family activities, residential and community-based experiences. Through these activities, young carers were able to: enjoy time away from caring responsibilities and simply be young people, improve their confidence, independence and self-esteem, build friendships and reduce feelings of isolation, explore new interests, skills and hobbies, develop aspirations relating to education, employment and volunteering, Improve their health and wellbeing through positive social experiences and access to community opportunities. The project also helped identify and engage previously hidden young carers whose families were unaware of available support. As a result, families gained access to additional services, specialist carers' organisations and wider opportunities that could improve their circumstances. Beyond benefiting young carers, the project positively impacted families by reducing pressure on parents and carers, providing reassurance that young people were participating in safe, supportive activities, and creating opportunities for positive family experiences and memories. Overall, the project successfully delivered meaningful respite, improved wellbeing, strengthened social connections, increased confidence, and enabled young carers to focus on their own ambitions and futures beyond their caring roles.
What Community Volunteers Enabling You (COVEY) has learned
The project reinforced the importance of designing short breaks around the realities of young carers' lives.
Many young carers faced competing demands on their time and energy because of caring responsibilities at home. Some participants needed to return home early from activities due to medication routines or having to care for siblings, while others found it difficult to commit to longer opportunities despite wanting to participate. Flexibility in delivery was therefore essential to ensuring young carers could access support in a way that worked for their circumstances.
Transport emerged as one of the most significant barriers to accessing short breaks. Families affected by poverty, disability, rural isolation (particularly for young carers in rural Clydesdale, a large part of South Lanarkshire) and caring responsibilities often struggled to access opportunities independently. The project demonstrated that transport support is often a fundamental component of effective short break provision rather than an additional benefit.
A key learning point related to the distinction between practical support and genuine respite. Through our one-to-one befriending model, some young carers occasionally used part of their time with volunteers to undertake practical errands or tasks that they would otherwise struggle to complete (such as picking up prescriptions for their cared-for person) because of limited transport options, caring responsibilities or lack of available family support. While these activities often addressed genuine needs and improved quality of life, they did not always provide the fullest short break benefit intended through Creative Breaks funding.
This learning highlighted the extent to which some young carers' lives are constrained by practical responsibilities and unmet support needs. It also reinforced the importance of protecting short break time as an opportunity for fun, relaxation, social connection, confidence-building and experiences that allow young carers to step away from their caring role.
As a result, COVEY will seek to ensure that where practical errands, appointments or similar support needs are identified, alternative arrangements are explored wherever possible through support planning, staff intervention, family support or partner agencies. This will help maximise the proportion of Creative Breaks-funded activities that are dedicated to meaningful respite and personal wellbeing outcomes.
The project also demonstrated the value of offering a range of short break opportunities. Young carers benefited from a combination of one-to-one befriending, group work, community activities, day trips, family experiences and residential opportunities. This flexible range of options ensured that young people with different needs and circumstances could access breaks in ways that were meaningful to them.
Impact on beneficiaries
The project provided young carers with a wide range of short break activities from caring responsibilities and opportunities to experience time that was focused entirely on their own wellbeing, enjoyment and personal development.
Many participants were supporting family members experiencing disability, physical ill health, mental ill health or other complex challenges. Young people described helping care for siblings, supervising younger children, supporting parents with day-to-day tasks and taking on responsibilities within the household that exceeded what would normally be expected for their age. Some families were also managing financial hardship, social isolation, rurality, single-parent caring arrangements and multiple caring responsibilities within the same household.
Young carers were supporting:
Parents with physical health conditions: MS, cancer, mobility difficulties, chronic illness
Parents with mental health challenges: Significant mental health difficulties, trauma, addiction recovery.
Parents with substance dependence: Alcohol and drug dependency affecting family functioning.
Siblings with additional support needs: Autism, non-verbal communication needs, disabilities and chronic health conditions.
Grandparents/kinship carers: Health conditions, mobility issues and age-related care needs.
The biggest difference created by the project was providing opportunities for young carers to simply ‘be’ young people. Through one-to-one befriending, group sessions, outings, family activities and residential experiences, participants were able to take a break from the responsibilities they carried at home and enjoy experiences centred around fun, relaxation, friendship and personal growth.
For some young people, COVEY’s short breaks represented one of the few regular and dependable opportunities available to leave the home environment, access community activities or spend time with peers out-with school hours. The short breaks created space for young carers to build confidence, develop independence and experience positive social interactions away from their caring role.
Wiston Lodge, a favourite of COVEY participants has been revisited. In addition to the day trip, a residential trip was arranged which allowed an extended break away from caring. This was particularly popular as this was the first time many had been given the opportunity to have an overnight break from caring responsibilities.
Approximately 16 young people (84%) participated in outings (longer than 2 hours).
Activities included: community outings, family activities, meals out, adventure attractions, top Golf, Blair Drummond Safari Park, New Lanark Christmas Event, escape rooms, employability visits, home-based support, sibling outings.
These opportunities provided: respite from caring roles, social connection, increased confidence, positive childhood experiences, access to activities families could not otherwise provide.
Approximately 14 of the 19 young carers (74%) were attending groups at the time of recording or had done so previously.
Groups provided: peer support from others with similar experiences, opportunities for friendship and belonging, recreational and confidence-building activities, employability and skills development opportunities.
1:1 Support
Approximately 11 young people (58%) were receiving dedicated 1:1 support.
This support was particularly important for: young carers experiencing complex family circumstances, those who were isolated, young people requiring tailored emotional support, families unable to access community opportunities independently.
Staff also observed improvements in confidence and aspirations. Young people who often focused on the needs of others were able to explore their own interests, strengths and future ambitions. Some participants became more engaged in discussions about education, employment and volunteering opportunities, demonstrating increased confidence in their future pathways – for example, through an event provided by the police to teach young people about their role in the community, one of our young carers has begun to explore whether she could join the police force herself.
The project also benefited families and cared-for people. Knowing that their child was accessing a safe, supportive and enjoyable short break reduced pressure on some families and provided reassurance that young carers were receiving opportunities focused on their own wellbeing. Whole family activities (where the cared-for person could attend alongside the carer) created opportunities for positive experiences and shared memories away from the home that many families reported they would otherwise have struggled to access.