What we do
Building brighter futures for young carers.
Honeypot is the only UK charity to provide a consistent level of support for young carers in the 5-12 age range. Our track record spans back 25 years, but our mission remains the same: We want to build brighter futures for young carers and help them make happy childhood memories that they cherish for a lifetime.
Our early-intervention, Wrap-Round service is designed to provide relief, protect mental health, and develop social confidence, and delivered in safe, nurturing environment. Each year, we aim to offer places to over 2,500 young carers and vulnerable children across the UK through residential breaks, and a range of digital and face-to-face support services.
Download our latest annual report
“In the last decade, government funding for children’s services has fallen by a third and many young carers are directly affected by this. We work hard to establish relationships with referrers across the country, including schools, GPs, social services and other welfare organisations, to identify the children who so desperately need our help.”
Who we help
Young carers are children under 18 years who provide care and emotional support to a parent, a grandparent, or a sibling who is ill, disabled, suffers from a mental health conditions or substance abuse. We are the only charity in the UK that is solely dedicated to supporting young carers in the 5-12 age range.
Having to adopt a surrogate adult role at home, alongside homework and school, is unbelievably tough. Some of our children are as young as five when they start helping to give medication, complete household chores and assist with personal care. Although still children, some of them care for up to 30 hours a week, 365 days a year, and often single-handed.
Young carers often find it difficult to make friends with their peers, as they have a limited amount of shared experiences. Many young carers lack confidence, and are bullied at school as a result of their responsibilities at home. On average, they achieve 9 GCSE’s below peers of the same age.
Recent media mentions
To give young carers a voice and raise awareness of our work, we have been featured in various media outlets, including local and national radio stations, papers, magazines and the occasional feature on TV. Below is a selection of more recent media coverage.
BBC Radio 4 appeal featuring Bethany, one of our beneficiaries (July 2018)
Guardian interview with Thupayal Hussain, one of our ambassadors.
”As a Young Carer I was doing things no 15-year-old boy should do” (Sept 2020)ITV feature on young carers (September 2020)
Lymington Times reporting about our successful Christmas 2020 Big Give campaign (Dec 2020)
Meet some Honeypot Children*
Katie, 10
Katie was referred for a SEAL break with us by her school in 2019. On her first evening with us, she sat in the corner of the dining table gripping the edges of an empty plate, unable to bring herself to engage with the rest of the children chatting all around her.
Over the course of the next two days Katie made truly remarkable progress. She also spoke with staff about things that worried her – most especially her fears for a parent who was seriously and chronically ill. It was clear Katie was a ”hidden” young carer and that her caring responsibilities weighed very heavily on her.
By the time Katie left us at the end of her SEAL break she was chatty, smiley and much more confident in the group. She has since been on a respite break at Honeypot House too. We are immensely proud of her and humbled by what she’s been able to achieve with a little support from us. She is a perfect demonstration of the value and effectiveness of SEAL breaks, and the complementary nature of our SEAL and young carer respite programmes.
Billie Marie, Honeypot graduate
When I went to primary school I realised my home life wasn’t the normal life that my friends had. I have an older sister and a young brother with highly complex needs. I helped with feed monitoring my baby brother right up until he was seven, as he was fed by tube. With my sister I completed personal care needs, such as supporting her with changing and eating. As I got older, my responsibilities obviously increased and I would often help my mum with getting them both out the house.
Honeypot gave me a place to escape to; it was a place to reflect on my family life and get the support of someone being there. It gave me the space to grow and play and learn about myself, and an opportunity to put myself first.
I loved getting our certificates at the end of each visit highlighting something I had done well. I also enjoyed celebrating my birthday at Honeypot and having imaginary play with my two best mates that went with me. We used to love having the bedroom with four beds in as it had a sunflower at the end of the bed that we used to pretend was a webcam to chat to each other.
I am still a carer but I wouldn’t change it for the world. Caring has given me the skills to take on a challenge and push myself. It’s given me the ability to never give up and to fight for what I believe in. I suppose if caring was never part of my life I wouldn’t be as patient or as empathetic as I feel I am.
Daniel, 6
Daniel is six years old and has a chaotic home life. His mother suffers from an alcohol addiction and he has no contact with his father. He often goes hungry and he regularly misses school.
On Daniel’s first visit to Honeypot House he was very anxious, and needed to be reassured that his Mum would be fine while he was away. He called home at night and morning to make sure she had not done anything ”silly”’. While at Honeypot he was able to relax and make friends with other children who understand what it can be like to have a disrupted home life. This helped Daniel to feel less alone, and gave him the confidence to share more about how he felt with his social worker.
*All children’s names have been changed to protect their identity.
