Young carers in Eastbourne hit the red carpet for new film

Care for the Carers, a charity supporting unpaid carers in East Sussex, organised the five minute film to give young carers a chance to open up about their experiences.

The charity has been arranging events with young carers for the past two years to give them a respite from the responsibility of being a carer.

Culture Shift, an East Sussex arts organisation, helped the carers make the film. They have also been putting on drama classes for the young carers to attend.

The ‘Bursting the Bubble’ premiere was attended by the young carers and their parents. One of the stars of the film, Charley, spoke shortly before the film was shown.

She said, “I really enjoyed the sessions with Culture Shock.Due to being a young carer I don’t get to get out of the house much and I feel very isolated.

“I didn’t know there was other people out there who are struggling like I am, and it helps me understand how much connection between young carers can help us support each other.”

Jordan, another young carer, said, “What people don’t understand is, that for us, for people that are caring, this group means a hell of a lot on an emotional level.

“This break is for us a holiday, two hours, that’s it, but we can’t afford to go to Spain or anything for a decent holiday, so to us this is a holiday – it’s the greatest two hours.”

The mayor of Eastbourne, councillor Pat Rodohan, joined the young carers for the premiere.

After the film was shown, he said, “The work done by Care for the Carers is incredibly important, and I was honoured to meet the amazing stars of the film tonight.

“The film was very powerful and does an excellent job of raising awareness of this issue. Importantly, it also helps get the word out for what a young carer is, and the support that is out there.”

The event was scheduled as part of Young Carers Action Day, which happened across the country,

Charities focused on young carers all agree on what the main problem is: a lack of visibility.

According to Children’s Society, 39 per cent of young carers said that nobody in their school was even aware of their caring responsibilities

It is estimated that there are around 800,000 young carers in the UK, with 40 per cent of them suffering from mental health issues, according to a survey by Carers Trust.

Also attending the premiere was the president of the Rotary Club of Sovereign Harbour.

Barrie Watt said, “Care for Carers is an amazing organizations. Whenever they arrange events like this I make sure I’m there to support them.

“Meeting the young carers is incredibly humbling. All of them are so mature and empathetic. It is sometimes hard to believe how young they are as they all seem so grown-up.”

Rosie Lowman, young carers services manager at the charity, said, ““We wanted to support young carers to share what they are feeling and experiencing and amplify their voices

“The theme for this year’s film was isolation. Inspired by the pandemic, which was particularly hard for young carers, we wanted to use this film to help bring together young carers from across Eastbourne to hopefully create a support network.

“We also want to raise awareness for young carers. So many children are taking on these responsibilities, with many of them doing so without acknowledgement of the stress it puts on their young shoulders.

“Care for Carers hopes to be there for them, and we want to be there to counter the isolation that many of these young carers feel.

Julia Roberts, co-director of Culture Shift, said, “It is very humbling to work with children this young and see the work they do.

“We hope this film will help the wider public understand what a young carer is, and to allow the children a chance to take a break from being a carer and act like kids.

“Other people need to see how brilliant they are, and I’m excited about the future work we will do with Care for the Carers to show this.”

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