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New Support Worker for Fife Young Carers
In the last issue of our
newsletter we told you about
how sadly Liz, our support
worker for Cupar and North
East Fife, had left us to live
in Aberdeen. We therefore
had a vacancy at FYC for a
support worker. Were very
happy to say that this vacancy
has now been filled by
Jordana Gold. Jordana has
been a sessional worker for
our support groups in Tayport
and Cupar for 4 years. Shes
very excited about her new
role with Fife Young Carers.
Jordana has had lots ofexperience not only as a
sessional worker but as a
volunteer youth worker.
Her previous job was officebased so shes really looking
forward to getting out and about
meeting young people and their
families as well as making linkswith the communities they live in.
Jordana can be contacted on
07789811161
Or by e mail
Do you help
look after
someone with
Diabetes? not sure what
it is? read
our article on
page 5.
New play high-
lighting the
issues young
carers face
page 2
Newsletterfo
ryoungcare
rsAutumn2010
Jordana Gold, new
Support Worker for
Cupar & NE Fife
Scottish Young Carers Festival 2010
Once again young carers
from Fife took part in the
annual Young Carers
Festival. This year they
were camping instead of
staying in the huts at
Broomlea Outdoor Centre.
There was an opportunity to
try drumming, a silent disco
and a Guitar Hero Competi-
tion. Unfortunately theguitar hero faced technical
difficulties so not everyone
managed to compete but the
silent disco went down well
with everyone wearing head-
phones and listening to their
choice of music!
There were around 500
young carers attending from
all over Scotland.Gordon Paterson from
Scottish Government Carers
Policy Branch gave young
carers information about
the new National Young
Carers Strategy and all the
young carers were given a
summary of the strategy.
Some young carers took part
in a drama workshop looking
at the issues that they face.
On the Sunday theyperformed for everyone
you did a great job of high-
lighting your concerns.
As usual young carers had the
opportunity to visit the Zone
to post their views about the
services they receive, this
year Karen Martin who is a
mental health worker was
also on hand to answer
queries about coping with
looking after someone whohas a mental health problem.
Karen is working on a toolkit,
which will be available nextDrama at the festival
year and can be used by
workers to make sure
they can give the right
advice to young people
they are working with.
The good news is that
the Scottish Government
is providing funding fornext years festival
see you there!
Inside this issue:
The Monster inthe Hall
2
FYC AGM 4
Arts Programme 4
Diabetes 5
Young Carers
Activities
6
Back page news 8
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Its taken almost 2 years from the
first planning meeting to the preview
show but The Monster in the Hall was
well worth the wait..
Lets take you back to that first meet-
ing just before Christmas 2008,
when a very nervous new in post
Information and Liaison Worker met
with Frank Chinn, Chief Executive of
AttFife (Arts and Theatres Trust
Fife), Guy Hollands and Elly Goodman
from Citizens Theatre Glasgow.
Thankfully Nina had the support of
Mary Stewart, Manager of Fife
Carers Centre who guided her
throughout the meeting.
It was there that the first plans were
made to involve some of the young
carers from Fife in the development
of a new play, in which the central
character would be a young carer.
The play was to be written by David
Greig, a Scottish Playwright who
writes youth theatre for the 14+ age
group. As David had to make sure that
the character was true to life he
wanted to consult with young carers
to find out about their experiences.
We realised that some young carers
may not have had the opportunity to
go to youth theatre or indeed try out
drama, so we decided to develop a
programme to get young carers
interested and give them the
opportunity to get an understanding
of what it takes to write a play. Hence
the plan to develop a programme whichwould culminate in a residential drama
week for around 30 young carers from
all over Fife came into being.
We invited young carers to a special
performance of David Greigs play
Yellow Moon which was staged at the
YMCA Glenrothes in March 2009. The
audience were stunned by the show
which powerfully tackles issues such as
self-harm and identity.
Elly Goodman then delivered drama
workshops to the Fife Young CarersSenior Support Groups. The workshops
were great fun and gave young people
the chance to have a taster of some of
the activities that would be on offer
during the residential.
Funding was sought for all these events
from NHS Fifes Carers Information
Strategy, with additional funds from
Cashback for Communities. The drama
programme would not only give young
carers the opportunity to try new
activities and to boost their
confidence and self-esteem, but the
completed play would act as a tool to
identify hidden young carers not only inFife but throughout Scotland.
Thankfully the bid was successful and
22 young carers, staff, volunteers and
sessional workers from Fife Young
Carers spent 4 days at Carnegie
Conference Centre, Dunfermline in
October 2009.
Drama, song writing, creative writing,
film- making, talent shows, new friend-
ships, support, respite from caring,
fun, cinema, and bowling were all on
offer during the 4 days. It was ex-
hausted but happy young carers (and
staff) who went home (some reluc-
tantly) on the Thursday afternoon.
The staff from Citizens Theatre were
fantastic and encouraged everyone
who attended to get the most out of
the experience.
A DVD of some of the brilliant work
the young people created was
produced and it was shown at FYCs
AGM that year.
In January 2009 David met with FYCsstaff to discuss some of the issues
young carers face. He also held a fo-
cus group with some of the young car-
ers who had attended the drama resi-
dential.
In March David offered a special
Scriptwriting workshop to interested
young carers which was held at
Carnegie Hall in Dunfermline.
Then everything went quiet.and we
waited.with bated breath
The Monster in the Hall was pre-
viewed at Kirkland High School, for
young carers, FYC staff and specially
invited guests on the 23rd September
2010. David Greig was in attendance
and was keen to ask the young carers
who were present for their views. He
said they would be the real critics of
the play!
The following week it was made
The Mo
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nster in the Hall
Autumn 2010 Page 3
available to schools from all over
Fife and then toured Schools and
youth theatre venues around Scot-land before being in residence at the
Citizens Theatre in Glasgow for 2
weeks.
The play follows Duck (short for
Ducati, her late mothers favourite
motorbike) as she reaches crisis
point in caring for her Dad, Hugh,
who has MS, which is getting pro-gressively worse. Sounds like all
doom and gloom?... not if the young
carers from Fife have anything to do
with it Dont make the young
carer a saddo with no friends dont
make it a tragedy! they said. So
David took them at their word and
Monster not only contains some of
the experiences and fears that young
carers face (and some of their ideas)
but also a lot of humour (and a few
swear words).
It also has a non-stereotypical Social
Worker Mrs Linda Underhill, Agnetha,
a Norwegian anarchist (both played by
Beth Marshall) a very camp (but actu-
ally he is straight) love interest for
Duck in the form of Lawrence
Lofthouse, played by David Carlyle.
Gemma Mcelhinney plays the young
carer Duck, whose character has a
great warmth to it. Gemma has a
friend who is in a similar situation to
Duck and says she is much more ma-
ture and sensible than her peers, she
also misses out on some the things
that everyone else takes for granted.
Keith MacPherson who plays Ducks
father Hugh, would like people to go
away from the play thinking that when
people are facing difficult times they
need our support. Life is best for
everyone when were not in competi-
tion with one another. A view echoed
by Linda Underhill in the play.
David wrote the play in a hurry
over the period of 3 weeks and
this is reflected in the pace ofthe play which is extremely fast
moving. Theres no chance to
drift off during this perform-
ance!
The idea for the play came from
a friend of Davids who is a Guid-
ance Teacher. He told David
about young people at school who
were struggling balancing their
caring roles with their schooling.
The rest, as you say, is history.
Theres a resource pack for
schools to use with the play
which gives teachers information
about identifying and supporting
young carers in school.
Fife Young Carers would like to
thank AttFife( Frank Chinn),
TAG Citizens Theatre (especially
Guy Hollands, Elly Goodman and
Howie Reeve) and NHS Fife
Carers Information Strategy for
giving us this fantastic opportu-
nity.
Thanks also to all the young
carers who contributed to
Davids insight into young carers.
The Monster in the Hall
cast
David Greig (hes the one with the beard!) with some of the young
carers who were involved in the project.
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This years AGM was held at the
Roundhouse and invited guests were
treated to a lovely buffet prepared byFYCs Management Committee.
There was also an EGM (Extraordinary
General Meeting) included in the
agenda for the night as there was
some changes needed to our Constitu-
tion. Both Helen Guild (Convenor) and
Ian Dorward (Treasurer) thanked
staff for all their hard work through-
out the year and Ian praised all those
who had fundraised to allow young car-
ers to participate in a variety of
activities .
We were delighted
to have GordonPaterson from
Scottish Govern-
ments Carers
Policy Branch at
our AGM. Gordon
gave a
presentation on the
new National Young
Carers Strategy Getting it Right
for Young Carers.
We were also very pleased to have
Mike from Drumatik Drum Group
with us for the evening. Mike has
been working with Fife Young Car-ers as part of our Arts Programme.
(see article below for more de-
tails). Those who were brave
stayed and donned ear protectors
while we had a drumming session!
Copies of our annual report and
accounts can be obtained from our
office or can be downloaded from
our website
www.fifeyoungcarers.co.uk
Drumming session at
AGM
Fife Young Carers with AttFife and
Kinetic are involved in a new project
which is delivering an arts programme
throughout the year. The aim of the
project is to allow young carers the
opportunity to try new activities thatthey would not normally get the chance
to experience
Funding through a bid to NHS Fifes
Carers Information Strategy by
AttFife has allowed this work to take
place which will give young carers
increased confidence and self-esteem.
Through feedback from young carers
about some of the activities we have
previously delivered and some ideasfrom our partners, all the groups are
having five workshops throughout this
year.
The sessions are film-making, graffiti
art, street dance, slam poetry and
drumming. In March 2011 all the young
carers will be getting together for a
Mash up at the Rothes Halls in
Glenrothes. The event will run all week-
end with young people developing their
talents and the end product being put
in a DVD. Each young carer will receivea copy of the DVD.
Theres been some hic-ups in organizing
the sessions with 10 different
groups to co-ordinate no wonder!!!!
Hopefully the rest of the programme
will run smoothly!!!
By March all the groups should have
had the chance to try the activities
and will be ready for the big weekend
of events!
Arts Programme for young carers in Fife
Fife Young Carers Annual General Meeting 2010
The aim of the project is to allow young carers the opportunity to
try new activities that they would not normally get the chance to
experience
Autumn 2010Page 4
Graffiti Art session,Street Dance
Drumming session
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Diabetes is a common illness wherethe amount of glucose (sugar) in some-
ones blood is too high because their
body cant use it properly.
Our bodies break down our food into
glucose which is sent from the stomach
to the blood. This glucose needs to
get from our blood to our muscles, fat
and liver where it can be stored until
we need energy.
Near our
stomachs
there is a
special organ
called a
pancreas.
Inside the
pancreas are
small cells
called beta
cells. They
know how
much glucose
is in our
blood. Afterweve had
food, if they
find that
weve got too much glucose in our blood
they send a message to tell the stores
in our muscles, fat and liver to open up
and let the glucose in. The messenger
is called insulin.
When we exercise our bodies turn
some of the stored glucose into en-
ergy. The beta cells stop us having too
much glucose in our blood and sendinsulin so we can store it.
When someone has diabetes their beta
cells stop working so the glucose piles
up in the blood and they cant store it
in their bodies. They become very
tired because they have no glucose to
change into energy.
There are two different types of dia-betes type 1 and type 2.
In people with type 1 diabetes the beta
cells have been destroyed and they
cant make any insulin. They have to
inject insulin to allow their body to
store glucose.
In people with type 2 diabetes the
beta cells dont make enough insulin or
it doesnt work properly. They have to
have a healthy
diet and regu-
lar exercise,
although some
people do need
to inject
insulin with
this type.
People with
diabetes have
to check the
amount of
glucose in
their blood
regularly andinject them-
selves with the
correct
amount of insulin 2 to 4 times per day
depending upon what their diabetes
specialist advises.
Hypoglycaemia is when there is not
enough glucose in someones blood. This
can happen when someone with diabe-
tes has injected too much insulin, not
eaten enough or exercised a lot with-
out eating enough food. A person withhypoglycaemia might feel sweaty and
shaky, they may also feel confused or
irritated.
Treating hypoglycaemia is fairly simple
drinking a glass of lucozade or non
diet drink, taking glucose, or eating
five sweets such as jelly babies fol-
lowed by half a sandwich or piece offruit. In severe cases where the per-
son is unconscious they will need to be
treated by an injection of glucagon.
Diabetic ketoacidosis is when someone
who is diabetic has lots of glucose in
their blood over a long period of time.
As the body has no stores of glucose in
the muscles, fat and liver it starts to
breakdown fat stores very quickly.
When fat stores are broken down they
make a substance called ketones
ketones are not good for our bodies asthey are acidic. If someone has lots of
acid in their blood they will start being
sick, feel dizzy and be breathing rap-
idly.
Treating diabetic ketoacidosis is more
complicated and if someone has high
levels of ketones they should contact
their diabetic nurse, GP or hospital.
Diabetes UK has lots of information on
their website www.diabetes.org.uk,
or you can contact them on 0845 120
2960.
For local support meetings see
www.diabetes-fife.org.uk.
If you would like more information
about this or any other illness contact
Nina at Fife Young Carers:-
01592 223894
Diabetes what is it?
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Autumn 2010Page 6
Young Carers Su
Young Carers Festival
Zap Zone Dundee
Bowling & Picnic
Cinema & Flag Making
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mmer Activities
Autumn 2010Page 7
Edinburgh Fringe/Camera Obscura
Funfair & water fights
Blackpool
Horse riding & team building
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ThankyoutoClarkD
uffinwho
rantheGlasgowhalf
marathon
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event.
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YoungcarersfromallaroundFifewillbetaking partinScotlands RightBlethervoteinNovember.TamBaillieScotlandsChildrensCommissionerisaskingchildrentovoteonthethingsthatmattertothem,likethecommunitiestheylivein.Theresultswillhelphimtodecidewhatheshould
concentrateonoverthenext4years.TamattendedthisyearsYoungCarersFestivalaswellastheproductionofTheMonsterintheHallsohehasagood
knowledgeofyoungcarersissues.Watchthisspacetoseehowhesgoingtoworktoprotectyoungcarersrightsat atimethatresourcesarebeingsqueezed!
Oneofouryoungca
r-
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in
aprojecttoimprove
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ThisyearsF
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Partiesare:
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Seniors-Tu
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Juniors-W
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SeeyourSup
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details.
TheRoundhousePrioryCampus
Kirkcaldy
KY12QT
Tel01592223893www.fifeyoungc
arers.co.uk
FifeYoungCarers
proudoftheiruncle
especiallyasheran
mostofthewaywith
huge
blisters!
FYCwouldliketothank
everyonewhoraisesm
oney
forus.Ourcorefund
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doesntcoverourtri
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activitiessowithout
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wecouldntprovideth
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Thankyou.....thanky
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