Livin’ it up Spring 2017
Welcome to the YCP Spring 2017 Newsletter!
Supported by...
Spring is almost here, and we can’t wait to see what fun the warm weather will bring here at YCP! Have a read of our latest newsletter and see all the brilliant things we’ve been up to!
Best wishes from the YCP Team!
Vote for us to win £50,000 to help unpaid carers in Kingston get fitter and healthier Please don’t forget to post
your vote…...every single one is important! 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!
February Half Term We had an action-packed day at Three Peaks outdoor adventure centre! We did the low ropes assault course and even went quad biking, it was brilliant!
We found some budding bakers in our half-term workshops! We made strawberry shortbread hearts and rocky road…..they were very delicious treats!
Some of us got the chance to take part in an animation workshop ran by our friends at CREATE, which involved going behind the scenes at Eden Walk shopping centre in Kingston. It was amazing to see and we took some great pictures that we used in the animation!
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Our energetic skipping workshop was brilliant fun! Everyone got the chance to learn some amazing new tricks and techniques, and everyone got their own skipping rope to take home!
The Taekwondo group learnt some incredible kicks and tricks, as well as learning how to break a piece of wood in half! It was a great session, we learnt about exercise and breathing techniques as well as burning off lots of energy!
Some of us went to see Room On A Broom at The Rose Theatre in Kingston. It was very funny and made us all laugh! We loved the costumes and all of the puppets that were used, and all had great fun joining in with the songs!
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
Cook and Eat Another brilliant course of Cook and Eat has come to an end! Thank you to all of the young carers who attended the sessions, we hope you had fun and enjoyed learning about cooking. This course focuses on nutrition, as well as learning how to be safe and hygienic in the kitchen. If you would like to take part in the next course of Cook and Eat, please get in touch!
Comic Relief Vlogging We are excited to say that Comic Relief and YouTube vlogger Patricia Bright have teamed up with three of our Young Carers; Riyad, Jade and Ahmed. They have asked them to show what life is like for them, over a two month period, giving an insight into their home lives and caring duties. They have even included their top tips for other young carers! The videos are amazing, we are so proud here at YCP‌...well done to all three of you! Look for the videos here: https://www.youtube.com/user/rednoseday/videos
Spring 2017
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Thankyous
John Bangs—For all of your support and fundraising
Kingstonian FC—For a wonderful day at the football match!
Krispy Kreme—For providing delicious donuts for our February halfterm activities
Kingston University—The Taekwondo workshop was brilliant!
Create—For the incredible animation workshop, everyone really enjoyed it!
Three Peaks—The activity day was fantastic!
Kingstonian Partnership We are very excited to announce that we are now partners with Kingstonian Football Club, and we will be working with them to raise awareness of the needs of young carers. Kingstonian are kindly offering:
All young carers “Kids for Free” under 16 season tickets
Concessionary entrance for adult carers
Occasional collection for our project at matches
On Saturday 18th March, We were very lucky to be invited to a football match as the guests of honour. We sat in the players area, and were even mascots for the team! It was a great day, and they kindly held a bucket donation for the project.
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
National Young Carers’ Awareness Day 2017 This year, for National Young Carers’ Awareness Day, we focused on how we could raise awareness of Young Carers in schools. One of our very talented trustees, Thom, ran an interactive workshop enabling the young carers who joined us to come up with, and share different ideas on how we can increase awareness raising in schools. There were some brilliant ideas, and some lovely posters were designed. We are going to continue working on these ideas, and will share any outcomes with you when we can. Liz and Alice went to Coombe Girls school where they were asking pupils to fill in a short quiz on young carers, in order to pick a prize from our lucky dip. There were lots of great prizes on offer!
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Later on in the day we held a tea party to celebrate the occasion! A big thank you to Krispy Kreme for donating two boxes of donuts‌.they were delicious!
Our 12+ youth group kindly baked some delicious scones for the event, which went down very well with some jam and cream!
James Berry
We were incredibly lucky that our local MP, James Berry, came along to join us. It was amazing to share our thoughts and ideas with him!
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
TEENS PAGE
With an all-star cast, the long anticipated Lego Batman Movie is now in cinemas! There are big changes brewing in Gotham, but if Batman wants to save the city from the Joker's hostile takeover, he may have to drop the lone vigilante thing, try to work with others and maybe, just maybe, learn to lighten up. Maybe his superhero sidekick Robin and loyal butler Alfred can show him a thing or two. If you were a fan of the first movie, this is one you wont want to miss!
Check out this brilliant 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.
ChildLine is a private and confidential service for children and young people up to the age of 19. You can contact a ChildLine counsellor about anything—no problem is too big or too small. Call free on 0800 1111, have a 1-2-1 chat now online or send an email through the website http://www.childline.org.uk/Talk/Pages/Email.aspx
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ZANY ZONE What happened when the Easter Bunny met the rabbit of his dreams? They lived hoppily ever after!
What do you call a rabbit that tells good jokes? A funny bunny!
Can you complete this Easter word search?
COLOUR ME IN!
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Kingston Carers’ Network
UNDER 12s DROP IN WHEN? EVERY 2ND MON OF THE MONTH
(TERM
TIME)
WHO?
YOUNG CARERS AGED
5-12 YEARS
PLEASE CONTACT THE TEAM FOR MORE INFORMATION.
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
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!
Delicious Easter chocolate cornflake nests!
We decorated wooden Easter shape decorations with very bright colours…...we think they look great
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12+ Youth Group WHEN? Our 12+ youth group does lots of different activities, and gets involved in varying workshops throughout the term. Check out some of the highlights below! Some of us got very twisted playing Twister!
WEDNESDAY (TERM TIME)
WHERE? THE BASEMENT BELOW JOHN BUNYAN BAPTIST CHURCH, QUEEN ELIZABETH ROAD KINGSTON UPON THAMES, LONDON KT2 6RJ
WHO?
We had great fun making delicious and healthy sushi rolls! Baking scones for National Young Carers’ Day!
Chilling out and having a chat!
EVERY
YOUNG CARERS AGED YEARS
12+
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
Family Activities Thank you to all of our families who attended our Bring A Dish event, it was, as always, a great success! The food was delicious, and everybody enjoyed making Valentines cards, pom poms and items in the clay room! Looking forward to the next one!
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YCP SCHOOL LUNCH CLUBS Our monthly lunch clubs are a great way to meet other young carers in you school. Why not pop along for a chat, some lunch and some fun activities?!
Hollyfield Nicola will be in OL2 at lunchtime on the following dates:
Coombe Girls
Tolworth Girls
Liz will be in TR1
104 on the
on the following
following dates:
Alice will be in hut
dates:
20th April
Wednesday 26th April
18th May
Wednesday 24th May
15th June
13th July
Tuesday 25th April
Tuesday 23rd May
Tuesday 27th June
Coombe Boys Liz will be in room 213 on the following dates:
19th April
14th June
17th May
12th July
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for plenty more updates, info and support!
www.facebook.com/Kingston.YCP @YCPKingston
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
OTHER ACTIVITIES…. Focus Group
Welcome Group!
Thank you to all who attended our January Girls’ Focus Group at Krispy Kreme. We got lots of great ideas and suggestions on awareness raising for young carers, and some brilliant tshirt designs for The Young Carers’ Festival 2017.
We had so much fun at our Welcome Group in February! We played games, painted tiles, decorated our own bags and planted some spring bulbs. Thank you to the Cook and Eat group who made tasty and healthy granola yoghurt sundaes for us—they were delicious!
The next girls focus group will be on Thursday 4th May 2017, so look out for your letter in the post!
Do you live with someone who has a mental health issue? We are 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 youngcarers1@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. If you, or a parent you know, could use their help, contact WelCare on 0208 546 3258 or email familiesconnect@welcarekingston.org.uk
If you are an adult carer, Kingston Carers’ Network can support YOU!
Sitting and Befriending Service
For more information Call 020 3031 2751 or check out the website: www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
The Sitting and Befriending Service can help find a Sitter/Befriender to support your family.
You can also find support through our new Online Forum for Adult Carers. You don’t even have to leave the house!
Give you a break from caring , or be a companion to your child/ teenager helping them to access social and leisure activities.
http://www.kingstoncarers.org.uk/ onlineforum/
For more information contact: suerobson@ruils.co.uk 0208 831 6083
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Kingston Carers’ Network
www.kingstoncarers.org.uk
CONTACT US! Diane 07818 878 931 youngcarers1@kingstoncarers.org.uk
Liz 07551 647 448 youngcarers3@kingstoncarers.org.uk
Nicola Young Carers Support Worker 07565540676 youngcarers2@kingstoncarers.org.uk Alice Young Carers Support Worker 07824781705 youngcarers5@kingstoncarers.org.uk