大象传媒

Photo – Young carer Abi taking part in a Create workshop

Time spent being creative plays a big role in improving Abi’s mental health and self-confidence".

Create would like to thank 大象传媒 Radio 4 listeners for their overwhelming response to our charity appeal. The appeal, which was read by actress and comedian Isy Suttie (who has since become a Patron), helped us raise £37,909.

Your support will help us achieve our dream of reaching twice as many carers with our work, providing our award-winning creative arts workshops to carers like 15-year-old Abi, who you heard about in our appeal. Abi takes care of her older brother, who has autism, and her eight year old sister, while supporting her mother, a single parent.

Abi leads a stressful life. She frequently gets up at 4am to finish her schoolwork, ensuring she doesn’t compromise her caring responsibilities. As a young carer, she has little time to enjoy the things that other young people her age take for granted.

For Abi, time spent being creative, especially with other young carers, plays a big role in improving her mental health and self-confidence, building new skills, and reducing her feelings of isolation.

There are 800,000 young carers like Abi living in the UK. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 40% of young carers say their mental health has deteriorated and 69% report increased feelings of isolation. Some now care for more than 90 hours a week.

At Create, we’re working hard to ensure that – during the pandemic and beyond - our workshops give young carers a chance to take a break from their responsibilities and enjoy being children.

Isy Suttie said of our work: “What I love about Create is that it listens to the people it’s working with. This enhances the participants’ feeling of wellbeing and makes them part of a collaboration, giving them a space that’s just for them to express themselves.”

Your support will enable us to continue this vital work, making a world of difference to the lives of thousands of carers like Abi across the UK.

You can learn more about Create .