Young Carers Action Day, celebrated on 16 March 2022, is a nationwide event, which has taken place for the past 6 years and is organised by the Carer’s Trust, aimed at raising awareness of the struggles and importance of young carers across the country. 

There are approximately 6,000 young carers in Coventry, (over 2,750 registered with Coventry Young Carers Service) often being responsible for a family member who is ill, disabled or incapacitated for other reasons. As a consequence, many suffer from issues relating to caring at such a young age, including a damaged social life, isolation and reduced educational progression.

This year the event has been renamed to Young Carers Action Day. Plus, the age range has been extended to cover young carers up to the age of 25 so that young adults can be included in the celebrations too. The theme for Young Carers Action Day this year is “Taking Action on Isolation”.

To celebrate, throughout the week, the Carers Trust Heart of England Young Carers Service will have young carers taking over their social media page, sharing their own stories about the things they do to keep social, ideas about activities to do when they’re bored, and other fun and wacky things to keep everybody entertained.

On Monday 14 March we will be running our 11-17 age group youth club session where there is music, games, fun and laughter. This is a very chilled group where all registered carers within the age group are welcome to join.

On Young Carers Awareness Day, 16 March, we will be taking a group of young carers and young adult carers to see Coventry City play Hull City courtesy of Coventry Building Society. Even though young carers love attending our activities, they also long to be able to do things with their family, so we will also be providing some tickets for families who would like to go as well.

On Thursday 17 March, we will be running our very own twist on the game of Bingo, for young carers aged 5-17 years old. The team YC's way of playing, features challenges and mini games for the participants when certain numbers are called. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

We will also be running an activity for young adult carers aged between 18 and 25 years old during the week at the all-new Boom: Battle Bar in Cathedral Lanes where we will be playing Crazy Golf, Axe Throwing, shuffleboard and VR darts. The date for this is to be confirmed.  Please check the Your Future Facebook Page for updates about this activity and other things that our young adult carers service, Your Future, can offer. . 

All of our activities are FREE for young carers and young adult carers registered with the service. If you are registered and would like to put your name down for the activities mentioned above or our other activities, visit our website  and fill in the activity form and Peighton will be in touch to confirm places.

If you feel you are a young carer aged between 5 and 17 years old or a young adult carer aged between 18 and 25 years old, please visit the respective web pages to complete our referral form to register and one of the team will be in touch with you. Young Carers web pages or young adult carers.

A Health and Wellbeing event has been arranged across Coventry and Warwickshire The event will be held on: Sunday 20 March 2022 at the Coventry Muslim Resource Centre from 10.30am until 2.30pm.

This will be a walk-in event for people/families who want to have a chat with professionals about what they can do to make some changes to improve their own health as well as family members. At the event Dr Abdullah Shehu and Dr Maisun Elftise will talk about importance of looking after your health. Information and services will be available on a range of health issues including;

• Diabetes Prevention
• Diabetes Awareness (DESMOND)
• Cancer screening programme
• Macmillan cancer support
• Mental Health support (IAPT)
• Fasting with Diabetes during Ramadan
• Respiratory condition management
• Physical health and being more active
• Healthy eating and portion control
• Stopping smoking, chewing tobacco/betel nut
• Looking after your teeth and gums

These sessions are aimed at parents/carers regarding annual health checks for young people age 14+ who have a learning disability. These information sessions will be delivered by Learning Disability Nurses, Claire and Ruth.

Date 1: 7 March at 10am -12pm

Date 2: 23 March at 1pm – 3pm

Platform: Zoom

Target audience: Parents/carers of young people age 14 – 25 who have a learning disability.  

Content Overview:

• Who is eligible for a health check – what is a learning disability?
• Why we do learning disability health checks – relevant legislation, white papers, reports and campaigns 
• Health inequalities for individuals with learning disabilities
• Common health needs for individuals with learning disabilities
• Local uptake and data 
• What is a learning disabilities annual health check and what to expect during the appointment 
• How to support someone to prepare for a health check 
• Reasonable adjustments 
• Health action plan and hospital passport 
• What you can do to support someone following their health check 
• Resources and local LD services

To book a place on either session please contact Claire or Ruth.

Please note the content of the two sessions will be the same so you just need to book on to the one that suits you best. 

Coventry Libraries are excited to have joined the Playlist for Life network and become a Help Point.

Playlist for Life is a music and dementia charity trying to reach as many older people as possible and those living with dementia.  

Libraries and community groups in the West Midlands are helping to help bring the power of personal music to help those living with dementia by setting up a Playlist for Life Help Point.

A Help Point is a place where people can get information about creating and using a personal playlist to help someone living with dementia.

Reading Rooms - Have fun sharing stories

Starting after February Half - term - sessions for 8 -11year olds are being offered to help build confidence through reading, share feelings, deal with worries, start conversations and enjoy meeting new friends. They run for twelve weeks. 

To find out more contact:

Bell Green Library   or call 02476 78 5819 - sessions are every Tuesday from 4pm - 5pm

Aldermoor Library or call 02476 78 8438 - sessions are every Thursday from 4pm - 5pm

Tile Hill Library  or call 02476 78 6785 - sessions are every Saturday 11am - 12pm

As a local authority we have a couple of live consultations  open at the moment. One is regarding the Draft Transport Strategy and the other is the Pharmacy Needs Assessment Survey.

We would love to hear your thoughts, so to take part please visit the website and share your comments and tell us what you think.

Do you struggle to get healthcare information in a way the person you care for can understand? Healthwatch and a coalition of user-led charities including  SignHealth, Mencap, RNID, and RNIB has launched the Your Care, Your Way campaign to improve accessible information in health and social care. The NHS Accessible Information Standard has been in place since 2016 but still people don’t get the information in the way they need. Find out how you can take part by visiting their website.  

Have you struggled to keep warm this winter?

Are you concerned about what the price cap increase might mean for your family?

At Act on Energy, our expert energy advisers can talk through any worries you might have with the rising energy prices and give you personalised hints and tips on reducing the impact. They can also talk through options on grants for improving the energy efficiency of your home including replacement heating systems and insulation.

For further information and advice please contact Act on Energy on: 0800 988 2881