James Cunningham

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Coventry MP welcomes city young carers

JIM Cunningham MP welcomed Coventry Young Carers to Westminster to discuss challenges the young people face in their daily lives.
Coventry Young Carers involves children and young people who care for a family member with a physical or mental illness, a disability, or substance misuse problem.
The young people take on caring responsibilities such as personal care for a disabled adult or emotional care for a parent with a mental health problem.
In addition, they are often also responsible for younger siblings and all household chores.
Mr Cunningham chatted with the young people about the Young Carers project and a host of other topics during the discussion at the House of Commons.
Mr Cunningham said: “The 2001 census found that 175,000 of the UKs 5.8 million carers were under 18 of age.
“The Coventry Young Carers Project is a tremendous scheme and I congratulate the young people and the project leader, Pat Mulqueen-Wood.
“I was interested to hear more about the work of the young carers, and the discussion we had about education, leisure, respite care and other topics was both informative and interesting.”
Many young carers experience bullying and also miss days off school due to their caring responsibilities.
Mr Cunningham said he would be happy to continue helping Coventry Young Carers Project in the future.