A young carer and young adult carer is someone aged 25 and under who cares for a friend or family member who, due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction, cannot cope without their support. Older young carers are also known as young adult carers and they may have different support needs to younger carers.
Are you a young carer or young adult carer?
If you're helping to look after someone at home — maybe a parent, sibling, or another family member — you could be a young carer or young adult carer.
- A young carer is someone under 18 who supports someone who couldn’t manage without their help, often due to illness, disability, mental health difficulties, or addiction.
- A young adult carer is aged 18 to 25 and provides similar care, but might also face other pressures like college, work, or living independently.
What might a young carer or young adult carer do?
You might be helping with things like:
- Cooking, cleaning, or shopping
- Helping someone get up, dressed, or move around
- Giving emotional support when someone is struggling
- Managing money or picking up prescriptions
- Giving medication
- Helping someone communicate
- Looking after younger siblings
These are all really important responsibilities — but they can also be a lot to handle.
Support for young carers and young adult carers at CWA
College can be a place to focus on your goals, meet new people, and have a break from your caring role — but we also know it’s not always easy. Juggling college work and caring responsibilities can feel overwhelming at times.
That’s why we’re here to support you.
We recognise the important role you play in supporting others and want to make sure you’re supported too — so you can thrive at college and reach your full potential.
How we support you
Here’s what we offer to help make college a positive experience:
- Personalised support during your application and while you're on your course
- Information and advice to help you settle in — including financial, wellbeing and learning support
- A dedicated staff member on each campus who understands what young carers need
- Links to specialist services for extra support, including helping you come up with a plan that supports you in your caring role – this is known as a Young Carers Needs Assessment
- A named student mentor at college who can support both you and your family
- Awareness about support through our welfare hub, website, posters, and tutorial sessions
- Opportunities to share your feedback so we can improve the support we offer
- Staff trained to recognise and support young carers and young adult carers
- A respectful and inclusive college environment where you feel understood and valued
We also have a Young Carers and Young Adult Carers Charter, which sets out how we support you and what you can expect from us:
Need support or want to talk?
If you think you’re a young carer or young adult carer, or you just want to chat about support, contact our student mentors at
Supporting young carers and young adult carers: recognition and continuous improvement
We’re proud to be recognised for our commitment to support carers, and this is shown in our accreditation of The Carer Friendly Tick – Education and Carers Federation Quality Standard in Carer Support.
We’re always looking for ways to do even better so if you have any feedback about the support we offer, please contact our carers lead at
External support you can access
Caring Together supports carers of all ages in Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, and Norfolk. They offer advice, run local services, and campaign for carers’ rights.
Website: https://www.caringtogether.org
Carers Matter Norfolk provides a countywide service supporting unpaid carers. They have lots of useful information on their dedicated website and an app for young people.
Website: https://carersmatternorfolk.org.uk/
Centre 33 offers a range of support to young people living in Cambridgeshire including support for young carers.
Website: https://centre33.org.uk/help/young-carers/
Carers First offers a range of support to carers living in Lincolnshire including online and telephone support.
Website: https://www.carersfirst.org.uk/young-carers/
The Carers Trust is a national charity working to improve support and recognition for unpaid carers across the UK.
Website: https://carers.org
The Matthew Project runs YouCan, a service that supports children and young people impacted by someone else's substance misuse. YouCan offers help to young people, including Young Carers who are responsible for looking after a relative with a drug or alcohol problem.
Website: https://www.matthewprojectyoungpeople.org/youcan
Kooth is a free, confidential and safe way to receive online counselling, advice and emotional well-being support.
Website: https://www.kooth.com/