Celebrating young carers in Flanders

In Belgium (Flanders), young carers are stepping into the spotlight  Young carers helped design the campaign themselves. Discover how Young Carers Week aims to make the invisible visible and how you can bring the inspiration to your own country.

I Spy with My Little Eye… something you don’t see

Young carers are everywhere: in classrooms, on sports teams, in youth groups yet they often go unnoticed. They help out at home, worry about their loved ones or receive less care and attention themselves. For them this is often “just normal life”. So normal, in fact, that they may not even realise they are young carers. Their surroundings often don’t realise it either, even though this caring role can have a significant impact on a young person’s life.

Young Carers Week in Belgium (Flanders)
From 20 to 24 October, Steunpunt Mantelzorg and Samana (two Belgian organisations supporting young carers) will organise Young Carers Week. Throughout this week we will shine an extra spotlight on young carers, showing who they are, what they do, and what it means to grow up as one.

During the week, we will visit secondary schools, colleges, and universities to make the topic more visible and discussable. In higher education, a mini-exhibition will showcase the story of a young carer. In secondary schools, fun and engaging activities around the theme will be organised to raise awareness.

Co-created with young carers
The campaign was developed in close collaboration with young carers themselves. They joined brainstorming sessions, contributed ideas for the campaign concept and helped decide on the communication materials (videos, posters & slogan) and the activities during Young Carers Week.

Raising awareness together
Our campaign focuses on young carers, their close environment (family, friends, neighbours) and professionals in education, but also aims to reach the wider public. To this end, we have developed videos, posters, logos and ready-to-use texts for newsletters, emails, and social media posts.

Get involved – and inspire change beyond borders

While our materials are in Dutch, they can serve as inspiration to raise awareness in your own country. Share the campaign in your network and who knows, you might help a young carer once again. Don’t forget to tag us on social media: @steunpuntmantelzorg.be and @jongemantelzorgers_samana.

More info here (in Flemish)