In a week when the Times published a quote from Peter Wanless (CEO of the NSPCC) saying that those in power have “wilfully neglected” the mental health of children and young people, we've been thinking about the issues facing young carers in terms of their mental and emotional wellbeing.

For anyone, the impact of waking up each day to care for someone with an illness or disability can be a huge one. This is especially true for young carers with 38% self-reporting that they have a mental health problem in a recent research study.

Here at the Young Carers’ Project we try our best to keep the mental health of our young carers in mind in everything we do. Thanks to funding from Carers’ Trust, staff have run several small group workshops which focus on supporting young carers to understand and talk about their own emotions, to develop resilience and to identify positive ways of coping with uncomfortable feelings. We find that small groups and one-to-one support sessions are a great way to help young carers to feel comfortable and able to discuss their worries.

We are lucky enough to have regular input from the Family Advice and Support Service which is part of the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Team (CAMHS) in Kingston. Someone from FASS comes along to our youth group fortnightly to provide invaluable support to our young carers. We also run a variety of targeted workshops to allow the young people to express their emotions through exercise or art while having plenty of support from staff.

Each and every conversation about the mental health of young carers is an important one; whether it's with parents, professionals or young carers themselves so start your conversation now!

If you're a young carer, or any child or young person, and you're feeling low or worried about something, there is support out there to help you. Check out the YoungMinds website for loads of info or have a chat with an adult you trust about how you're feeling.