Participation in Action: Film explores the challenges that young carers face

A film made by young carers opens with a scene like any typical school day. Three siblings are having breakfast before school. But the picture begins to look different when you realise the parents are missing. The children tidy away their own bowls and place a cup of tea on the table for their mother before leaving. As the title of the film explains: We’re Not Different, We Just Do Different Things.

The film was made by a group of 12 young carers from Salford Young Carers Service. The project was funded and led by The Lowry arts centre which raised £8,000 through a Christmas appeal to help the city’s young carers. Aged 12 to 16, the group are all lone carers who support someone without help from any other relatives.

In January, Salford Young Carers Service and The Lowry commissioned the team to create an artistic work that would raise awareness of the challenges young carers face.

But it was up to the group how to do it. First they attended fortnightly workshops at the Lowry for three months.

“That initial stage was about establishing the group, making them feel safe and confident,” says Lynsey Merrick, participation and learning manager at The Lowry. “We used theatre and drama to set some ground rules and start talking about each individual’s life.”

Through this process, the group decided to focus on how being a young carer affected them at school. They agreed this was one of the greatest challenges they faced, because their caring responsibilities often make them late for class, landing them in trouble with teachers.

They chose film as their medium and had to make sure that it followed criteria outlined by Salford Young Carers. “They wanted to make sure we weren’t being prescriptive in terms of what a young carer is,” explains Merrick. “We wanted young people to self-refer when they saw it, so we didn’t want to say: ‘You’re a young carer if your parent has physical disabilities, mental health problems or a drug or alcohol addiction’.”

Selecting a film company
The group interviewed a number of local film companies before choosing one that would be sympathetic to the subject matter. They also asked local actors to play supporting roles in the film, and received help from actor Maxine Peake, who volunteered to play the role of the mother.

The final product was premiered at The Lowry in October before an audience of MPs, councillors, head teachers and other young carers. “It’s been amazing, I’ve never done anything like this before,” says one of the young carers, Shannon,13. “I want my teachers to see the film, so they get it,” adds Joel, 13.

Through the young carers service, the film will now be shown in every high school in Salford and is also available online. There are even plans to take it to the House of Commons to push the message further. “It’s important that other people understand what we do,” says Mitchell, 14.