Livin’ it up Autumn 2015
Welcome to the YCP Autumn 2015 Newsletter! What a fantastic summer we’ve had! It’s been an incredible 6 weeks of activities, workshops, and trips away. We hope you enjoyed the holidays as much as we did! Now is time to put on our winter coats ready
Supported by...
for Autumn. Best wishes from the YCP Team!
Inside this issue:
Teen Zone
News and Updates
Zany Zone
YCP on Social Media!
Recent Activities
Contact Us!
Parents’ Page
Kingston Carers’ Network, Noble Centre, 109a Blagdon Road, New Malden, KT3 4BD, 020 3031 2757 Registered Charity No. 1151456 Company No. 8376060
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO! Summer Hols What a brilliant summer we’ve had! We’ve picked a few of our favourite trips for you to have a look at, as there were too many to fit on this double page! Family Trip to the Seaside Our annual trip to the seaside was as amazing as always. The sun shone on us all day and we enjoyed some great rides and yummy fish and chips!
Marwell Zoo We had an epic time at Marwell Zoo! There are so many animals to see and the adventure playgrounds were great! Three Peaks We always have a great time with our friends at Three Peaks! This time we had a full day of fun on the quad bikes, high ropes, low ropes and archery. London Trip Our rather spontaneous London trip went down a treat! We even got to fly over the Thames on the Emirates Air Line!
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Horse Rangers We were lucky enough to visit our friends at Horse Rangers twice this summer! We had a lovely ride through Bushey park & learned how to wash and groom the horses.
Photography workshop We spent three days capturing some great landscape pictures at Hampton Court and striking buildings in Eden street. The Mayor even came to our exhibit! Dragon Boat This year we took to the Thames for the Rotary Dragon boat race… and we didn’t come last!
Drama workshop We had a fantastic week creating and acting in our very own play “Journeying to the diamond volcano!”
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
Residential Trips at Walton Firs We always have a fantastic time camping at Walton Firs! Our favourite activity by far was rock climbing!
Our under 12 group used their free time to have an EPIC sleeping bag race and had some brilliant adventures climbing the trees ! Our over 12 group competed to get to the top of the rock climbing wall!
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THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEERS! We really depend on our brilliant bunch of volunteers who help us out during the summer activities. We’d like to say a huge and heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you for all you do. We couldn’t do it without you!
We would like to congratulate Conor for his incredible achievement! Thanks to funding from Carers Trust, Conor was able to train with the Kingston Wildcats basketball school. Conor has been training incredibly hard, and has been put on the team to play for nationals.
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
Time to Find Me!!
Kat has been running some workshops to help some of you to explore feelings around moving up to secondary school and ways to make it easier to cope with. We had lots of fun with games, arts & crafts and rounded it all off with an amazing trip to PGL!
We would like to say a HUGE thank you to Carers Trust and The Pears Foundation who funded all of this for us
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GET YOUR VOICE HEARD! Would you like to represent the views of young carers in Kingston and help guide the work we do at the YCP? Get in touch! For our most recent focus group, we went to Airhop trampoline park! We had a fantastic time playing dodgeball, basketball and doing epic flips on the trampolines!
Thank you to everyone who completed the summer surveys! Your chocolates will be given out soon! Your Feedback about the project means a lot to us and helps us to secure funding for future trips and activities. Feedback is welcome any time, so please don’t hesitate to contact us!
Boys’ Focus Group We are now recruiting for our Boys’ Focus Group. YCP want to hear the voice of our boys! This is a great opportunity to get your views heard, make some new friends and go on some great activities (check out what the girls’ focus group is getting up to above)
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
TEENS PAGE Me, Earl and the Dying Girl The film is about a teenage boy named Greg, who spends most of his time making parodies of classic movies with his co-worker Earl. Their outlook is changed forever after they befriend a classmate who has just been diagnosed with cancer.
Junior Embroiderers and Textile Students This group is great fun for those of you who have experience with textiles and stitching. It’s also a great place to learn new style, have fun and make friends!
For more information and to join, visit: www.youngembroiderers.com We are showing our support for the LGBT community by challenging any homophobic behaviour or language. If you would like to find out more information, you can visit the websites below: www.stonewall.org.uk/about-us www.pacehealth.org.uk
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TEENS PAGE Check out this great supportive social network for young carers set up and run by Carers’ Trust. Www. Babble.carers.org It’s a great place to turn to if you’re looking for support and aren't sure who to talk to.
Our favourite song of the summer was ‘Black Magic’ by Little Mix. Which songs are you listening to right now? Let us know !
We are now trained in the C-Card scheme. If you would like to find out more please visit: http://c-card.areyougettingit.com/ Default.aspx We are running this scheme at the 12+ Youth Club.
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
ZANY ZONE How many differences can you spot?
About Autumn
Autumn is one of the 4 seasons on Earth and is the transition from Summer into Winter. One of the really cool things about Autumn is the shedding of leaves from their trees.
JOKE BOX Doctor Doctor, I feel like a pair of curtains Well pull yourself together then!
Lookout Leaves! How many leaves can you find in this newsletter? (Answer on page 14)
Pumpkins are grown as they are used on Halloween!
Many animals begin to grow warmer coats to prepare for winter.
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ZANY ZONE BACK TO SCHOOL WORDSEARCH
We’re getting
COLOUR ME IN!
Colour me in!
Do you need to talk to somebody outside of your family? Come and have a chat with Young Carers’ Project staff if you are feeling sad or worried. Or if you would rather talk to someone else, call Childline on 0800 1111
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
UNDER 12 DROP IN The under 12s drop in is always lots of fun. We have a great time doing arts and crafts, playing games and just chilling out after school! Snacks and drinks are provided so all you need to bring is YOURSELF!
Check out our balancing skills during the Yoga workshop!
WHEN? EVERY 2ND THURS OF THE MONTH WHERE?BARNFIELD YOUTH CENTRE WHO? YOUNG CARERS AGED 5-12 YEARS
(TERM TIME)
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12+ Youth Group Our 12+ youth group keeps growing, and we absolutely love it! We do lots of different activities, and get involved in varying workshops throughout the term.
WHEN? EVERY WEDNESDAY (TERM TIME)
WHERE?BARNFIELD YOUTH CENTRE
WHO? YOUNG CARERS AGED
12+
YEARS
We’ve got some fantastic things lined up, including rock climbing, a dance workshop and a poker night with chocolate m&ms! Check out the Pizzas we made on our Pizza Express outing!
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE YCP Contribution Corner Emma, our Young Adult Carers’ Support Worker, has been very busy supporting carers aged 1525. As well as offering a variety of social activities, Emma supports young adult carers on a one-to-one basis. She empowers them to deal with issues such as work and education, housing, personal development and provides much-needed emotional support. Sometimes, a bit of support around the transition into adulthood can go a long way! If you are between the ages of 15-25 and think you’d like to meet Emma for some support or just a chat, give her a call or email:
What do you call cheese that’s not yours? Nacho Cheese! (Thanks for the joke Emily!)
The answer to how many leaves can you find? Answer is 12!
Emma Bell 020 3725 3050 yac@kingstoncarers.org.uk
Jack Petchey As you all know we are now part of the Jack Petchey Achievements Award Scheme! We are collecting votes at the moment & will give out the first 2 awards after half term. Please ask one of us if you would like to vote OR nominate someone for next time! (You have to be between 11-25 to receive the award)
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Are you aged 14 to 25? Would you like some support around planning for your future? We’ve got a new project that can help! If you are not studying, working or on a skills course OR you’re not sure what you want to do next, we can help. Our new project will offer 1:1 support to help you identify where you want to be, as well as things that might be stopping you getting there. Support will include advice, advocacy and skills training. Our aim is to help you get on track for achieving your life and career goals. If you are interested in this support please contact Kat on youngcarer4@kingstoncarers.org.uk 020 3757 8430 or 07824 781 705
The Young Carers’ Project is GROWING! We are now supporting more young carers than ever in Kingston—a massive 438 children and young people aged 5-18! This means we have to work really hard to make sure we get enough funding to keep doing the work we’re doing! Do you have any ideas for fundraising? Do you live with someone who has a mental health issue? Chrissy is running a project which aims to provide one -to-one support and age-appropriate information to children and young people about mental ill health. If you would like some support around this, or know someone who would benefit, please get in touch by phone or email: 020 3031 2756 youngcarers2@kingstoncarers.org.uk
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE YCP Volunteer thank you meal We had a fantastic time making pizzas at the volunteer thank you meal this year. As we have said before we really do depend on our brilliant volunteers, they work incredibly hard with us in making all the activities possible. So THANK YOU!! We really couldn't do it without you! If you are interested in doing some volunteering or mentoring with the Young Carers’ Project, please don’t hesitate to contact Lyndsey on 020 3375 8226.
Dora the Explorer! We sadly had to say good-bye to Andora this summer as she embarked on her adventure around the world! Here are a few pictures of her travels so far!
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THE YCP ARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA! Campaigns! World Mental Health Day, 10th October 2015
Transform our mental health In a survey of nearly 300 young adult carers, 45% reported they had a mental health problem. Get involved by visiting: http://www.carers.org/ transformmentalhealth
YCP TAKEOVER!!
#HighFiveforAnxiety This is really popular on Twitter, so we are joining in the support!
Would you like to be the voice of the YCP??!! We want you to have the opportunity to get your voice out there. Contact Kat if you would like find out more.
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Take over Twitter Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for plenty more updates, info and support!
Design the Newsletter
Tak e Fac over ebo ok
Develop new ideas for getting the message out there!
www.facebook.com/Kingston.YCP @YCPKingston
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
PARENTS’ PAGE The Sitting and Befriending Service can help find a Sitter/Befriender to support your family. Give you a break from caring , or be a companion to your child/ teenager helping them to access social and leisure activities. For more information contact: Sue Robinson: suerobson@ruils.co.uk 0208 831 6083
The Annual Rotree The Rotary Club are funding for us again this year in Kinston! We will also be there trying to raise funds for the Young Carers’ Project. You are welcome to come along and visit the Rotree in December and see how we’re doing!
Are you looking after someone? If you are an adult carer, Kingston Carers’ Network can support YOU! The services provided by Kingston Carers’ Network aim to minimise the consequences of caring by offering practical and emotional support and opportunities to take regular breaks from the responsibilities of caring. Carers can also benefit from a range of complementary therapies and beauty treatments. Call 020 3031 2751 for more info or check out the website: www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
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PARENTS’ PAGE
Are you a parent with a mental health problem? Would you like help and advice to work out how to find good solutions to day to day parenting challenges? Families Connect is a new project. Its aim is to develop a service to assist parents reduce the impact of their mental health issues on their children.
WelCare aim to offer:
Organised workshops A wide range of advice, information and resources for parents to access Links to community mental health services so you can receive appropriate support
If you, or a parent you know, could use their help, contact WelCare on 0208 546 3258 or email familiesconnect@welcarekingston.org.uk
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
CONTACT US! Diane 07818 878 931 youngcarers1@kingstoncarers.org.uk
Chrissy 07565 540 676 youngcarers2@kingstoncarers.org.uk
Liz 07551 647 448 youngcarers3@kingstoncarers.org.uk
Kat 07824 781 705 youngcarers4@kingstoncarers.org.uk