MYTIME Young Carers
Levelling the playing field for young carers
MYTIME Young Carers champions young people aged 5 to 25 who care for a parent, sibling or other loved one. Based in Dorset and working nationally, MYTIME sees young carers as remarkable young people with real skills, who deserve the same chances, friendships and fun as their peers.
MYTIME works on two levels. It gives young carers direct support through activity days, an online youth group and an employability programme. It also trains schools, community clubs and employers to recognise and support young carers, and campaigns for young carers to be recognised in national policy and local practice.
Young carers feel seen, supported and celebrated. They make friends who understand, take a well-earned break, and build the confidence and skills to pursue their goals. Schools and communities become better at spotting young carers early, so fewer grow up coping alone and more go on to thrive at school and in work.
2025
Year they joined the Raise Your Hands platform
3,700
Children and Young People supported last year
Why they’re needed
Young carers help a family member who is ill, disabled, or living with a mental health condition or addiction. Some are as young as five. Many take pride in their caring role, and they develop real strengths: compassion, maturity, resilience and organisation. But they carry responsibilities that leave little room for rest, play or time with friends.
Caring can take a toll on a young person’s mental and physical health and on their schooling. Young carers can miss lessons, fall behind and face penalties when no one knows what is happening at home. Most remain hidden, unknown to their schools and communities, so they miss out even on the limited support that exists.
The challenges often follow them into adulthood. Young adult carers can find it harder to stay in education, secure training or find work, even with ambitions to become doctors, lawyers or engineers. Without the right support, talented young people risk being held back by their circumstances rather than their potential.
How they do it
Through the Young Carer Champion Academy, MYTIME delivers its award-winning Level Up programme in schools. Staff receive accredited training to identify and support young carers, and each school appoints a Young Carer Champion. MYTIME helps schools write their own young carer policies, set up support groups, and run assemblies and PSHE lessons.
The Making Memories programme gives young carers aged 5 to 18 a well-deserved break. Holiday activity days range from archery, climbing and ice skating to music, dance and crafts, with family days for loved ones too. A weekly Zoom Youth Group means young carers can relax and connect from home when getting out is hard.
The Employability Programme supports young carers aged 14 to 25 as they move towards further study, training or work. Delivered as a three-day intensive with schools or an eight-week online course, it offers CV and interview workshops, money skills, mentoring, and days in the workplace with partner businesses, reframing caring experience as a strength.
The Community Champion Programme trains clubs and activity providers to welcome young carers. MYTIME also leads the Champion Young Carers campaign for a Young Carer Champion in every school, and its Youth Action and Advisory Board makes sure young carers’ own voices shape its work.
Find out more about MYTIME Young Carers’ amazing work
Hannah’s Story
Hannah cares for her younger brother, who has cerebral palsy, helping him get dressed and with his bath and bedtime routine, and cooking the family dinner. For years, no one at school knew. “Looking back, the signs were there,” her former teacher said, “but because I hadn’t received any training, I didn’t connect the dots.”
Everything changed when her school started working with MYTIME. Hannah joined a group where she made friends with other young carers, and at sixth form, teachers trained through Level Up already understood her situation. They recognised the circumstances behind her English GCSE result, extended deadlines when caring got in the way, and helped her resit while she studied for her A Levels. MYTIME staff read with her regularly along the way.
Hannah passed her English GCSE and her A Levels in Art and Sports Science, and went on to study Art at Bournemouth University while thriving in a part-time job. “MYTIME’s like a doctor… they just make you better. They look after you,” she says. “I don’t know where I’d be without them.”
Support MYTIME Young Carers along with 15 other children’s charities
MYTIME Young Carers is one of a portfolio of small UK children’s charities championed by Raise Your Hands. When you donate to us, your gift is shared equally between every charity in the portfolio.
One donation. 16 small charities. 16 ways to change a young life.
