Empowering Young Carers: Building Skills, Confidence, and Future Pathways

by Jul 31, 2025Awareness Raising, Campaigning, Charity partners, Lived Experience, News, News & events, Social Impact

At the City & Guilds Foundation, our mission is all about removing barriers to get a job, helping people get on the job and advocating for jobs of the future. We work closely with our charity partners to help support individuals that face barriers into a job. We’re proud to have a long-standing relationship with the Carers Trust. 

Young carers in the UK play a crucial role in the economy, providing significant support and value. Their contributions are estimated to be worth £184 billion a year, which is a 29% increase since 2011. This growth reflects the increasing hours of care families are providing, with young carers spending as much as 50 hours a week on their roles. The economic value of unpaid care is equivalent to a second NHS, highlighting the vital contributions of unpaid caregivers across the UK. 

Carers Trust is a charity for, with and about carers, working to improve support, services and recognition for anyone living with the challenges of caring. The Carers Trust works with over 1.1million carers cross the UK, has over 130 network partners across England, Scotland and Wales and has awarded 4.6 million awarded in grants to support carers and local carer centers. 

We’ve worked with Carers Trust in several ways now, from our Lost Opportunities: the hidden cost of caring podcast to our supporting young carers in employment webinar. Following the success and engagement of these, we hosted our first ever young carers employability session, this time curated for young carers themselves who travelled far and wide to attend.  

The day was a culmination of different activities, including a cv & interview session, strength-development sessions and a lived experience session which was an opportunity to hear from some of our City & Guilds colleagues and the support they’ve been able to access. Attendees also got the chance to explore different routes into employment, hearing about the benefits and practicalities of apprenticeships.  

Manuel Thomspon-Oloko, Early Talent Apprenticeship Partner, City & Guilds 

“Partnering with Carers Trust to host this event was a powerful reminder of the talent and potential that exists within young carers. These young people already demonstrate incredible resilience and responsibility, qualities that any employer would value. At City & Guilds, we’re committed to creating inclusive pathways into work, and this event was about showing young carers that their skills matter, their voices are heard, and their futures are full of opportunity. We see them not just as participants, but as future colleagues, apprentices, and changemakers.” 

Vicky Morgan, Head of Young Carers & Young Adult Carers 

“It was great to see 30+ young adult carers join us, from as far as Norwich. Their energy, resilience, and openness made the day truly special and reminded us why this work matters. It was a real powerful reminder that when we create space & opportunity, young people will rise to meet it” 

A big thank you to all our internal colleagues who used their volunteering entitlement to share their expertise and experiences.  

Carers Trust offers a wide range of resources and information for anyone who works with unpaid carers. To find a resource, please use the search options in the right hand column or search through the list below. If you have any queries about our resources, please contact web@carers.org

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