These workshops support young carers to improve their quality of life and increase their involvement to benefit and enjoy arts and heritage activities. We want to support vulnerable young carers to take a break from their often stressful roles at home. Their daily routine involves juggling school duties alongside performing a surrogate adult role at home with many of them caring for a chronically/terminally-ill loved one.

We hope to reduce the feelings of frustration & isolation felt by young carers taking part in our project. We will enhance the mental health of young carers and include a valid and reliable scale for measuring wellbeing. In addition to the intrinsic and fundamental joys of taking part in the arts, the benefits of participation can be divided into firstly health (i.e. physical and mental wellbeing) & secondly relationships (i.e. individual & collective). Arts can help to keep us well, aid our recovery and support longer, better lives. The arts can also meet major challenges facing health and social care, mental health, & loneliness.

We are currently working with the Youth team at Surrey County Council in Woking and Action for Carers Surrey on this project, working on a range of different activities and using a variety of materials, with a variety of artists to deliver these sessions and so if you would like to be considered for these or any other workshops, you can fill in our Call for artists form for future opportunities.

If you would like further information on the project please email [email protected] or call 01483 737807.

The Carers Create Programme is very gratefully supported by; The Arts Society, D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, The Hedley Foundation and The National Lottery Community Fund.