Support a great CAUSE’s this Christmas!
Local charity CAUSE is asking the equestrian world to support it’s new Young Carers Equine Programme this Christmas to help those young people and children who care for a loved one with a serious mental illness.
Caring for a distressed parent or sibling can have significant consequences when a young carer is left to cope without any support.
Young carers often lack self-confidence, find it hard to make friends or be bullied because of their family circumstances. For young mental health carers, these factors are compounded by negative stereotyping of mental illness.
They are also likely to have more restricted life choices than their peers and are three times more likely than other children to experience mental health problems themselves. They often live in a family unit which struggle financially as a family unit because one or both parents cannot work due to their mental ill health. With a high absenteeism rate from school, they are torn between their education needs and their caring role.
CAUSE , a registered NI charity, supports carers of people with enduring mental illness. A unique peer-led organisation, all of its frontline team and senior management have direct personal experience as a mental health carer. One of CAUSE’s strategic priorities, aims to provide safe, quality support to those children and young people who continue to be affected by any caring role of mental health within their family, to raise awareness of young carers and to support and influence change effectively.
CAUSE’s Young Carers Equine Programme enables young carers to be with their caring peers whilst learning how to deal with issues that evolve from their caring role; be sign posted to other young people’s services and support organisations as well as being offered much needed respite from their caring role. Helping to reduce both isolation and marginalisation experienced by young mental health carers, the programme also helps stamp out the associated stigma.
Anne Holland, Fundraising Manager for CAUSE stated, ‘The emotional and physical benefits of companion animals are now being established in psychiatric hospitals and elderly care units and there is well-researched evidence that spending time with animals can have a direct calming influence. Our Young Carers Equine Programme will offer young carers a unique opportunity to improve their own mental well-being by working with the natural behaviour of horses alongside a specifically designed therapeutic programme. Taking place outdoors it will provide young carers with the chance to experience a rural environment and reconnect with a more natural way of life. For those young carers who have been subjected to long periods within mental health caring or experienced severe family difficulties or deprivation, this is a very rewarding and stimulating therapeutic intervention.
Our 2014 Schools Show Jumping Challenge to be held on St Patrick’s Day at Portmore will support this new and unique young carer’s programme. As part of our Christmas Appeal, we are asking the equestrian world to get behind our young carers by organising a fundraising event or by making a donation.’
You can help transform the lives of young mental health carers and siblings by:
Texting FOAL14 £3 to 70070
Online at www.justgiving.com/youngcausecarers
For further information call Anne on 90650650 or email fundraising@cause.org.uk
Category: Charity, News, Show Jumping
