Edinburgh Marathon in support of East Lothian Young Carers

East Lothian Young Carers (ELYC) are a small charity based in Haddington outside of Edinburgh. Their mission is to provide support to young carers whose ages range from 5 to 24 years old. A young carer is someone who looks after a family member or friend who requires mental or physical support.

The charity currently has 120 young carers whom they provide long term support to. This comes in the form of:

• Breaks from caring
• Individual support and counselling
• Help with schoolwork
• Family support

For some young people, caring and being focussed on another person reduces their social time and can leave them with smaller friendship groups than their peers. This can lead to issues with confidence and lower self esteem. The activities that ELYC run enable young carers to meet other young people in a similar position which creates friendships and support networks. The charity is run by a team of two full-time and one part-time members of staff. They are the only provider of their kind in East Lothian and their services are oversubscribed.

Why ELYC?

Both of us went to school in Edinburgh and so have strong ties to the region. We both wanted to support a small local charity that has been negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. In this way we hope that the donations that you make will have the maximum impact.

Whilst the last two years have been hard for us all, the lives of young carers have been particularly difficult. Many of those being cared for fall into the most vulnerable categories which creates additional worries for young carers. ELYC are heavily reliant on fundraising through events which have been restricted during the pandemic.

How can you help?

A £30 donation would pay for:

• An activity session for one young carer (including transport to and from)
• 1.5hr individual session with a young carer
• 1.5hr of family support
• Two places in an online educational session

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SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE - note that for every £10 raised for ELYC, we will donate £1 to the Ukraine Appeal at Disasters Emergency Committee. They are supporting Ukrainian refugees with clothing, hygiene and food supplies. See link below for details.
dec.org.uk/appeal/ukraine-humanitarian-appeal