WEBVTT

00:00:06.687 --> 00:00:07.812
When I was,

00:00:07.812 --> 00:00:12.687
11 years old, I had a social worker
come to our house, and I was guided

00:00:12.687 --> 00:00:17.312
into the living room where we were
sat opposite a kind of, middle aged woman.

00:00:17.562 --> 00:00:21.937
I remember she had white curly hair
and she had glasses on the edge of her nose,

00:00:21.937 --> 00:00:24.062
and she kind of was leaning forward
with her arms

00:00:24.062 --> 00:00:27.687
crossed over a kind of notepad
that was kind of covering her knees.

00:00:28.062 --> 00:00:30.937
And she asked a few questions
about my life.

00:00:30.937 --> 00:00:34.812
And then after a short while,
I was allowed to leave, and at the time,

00:00:34.812 --> 00:00:38.125
I had no idea why she visited or what
the purpose was.

00:00:38.625 --> 00:00:40.750
I never saw her again.

00:00:40.750 --> 00:00:43.562
Looking back, however, I suspect that

00:00:43.562 --> 00:00:46.562
the social worker did...had

00:00:46.562 --> 00:00:50.375
undertaken
an initial assessment due to my dad

00:00:50.375 --> 00:00:54.187
being in rehab, for his drug
and alcohol misuse.

00:00:54.437 --> 00:00:57.812
And then my mum was also suffering
with depression and chronic fatigue.

00:00:59.125 --> 00:01:02.187
A few weeks later, I started
going to a group called Young Carers

00:01:02.187 --> 00:01:07.937
and through Young Carers I got, I started
go to weekly groups.

00:01:07.937 --> 00:01:10.937
I did loads of fun activities
we did group work.

00:01:10.937 --> 00:01:14.437
I went on activity days
during half-terms and a few times

00:01:14.437 --> 00:01:17.437
I went on like a residential trip
during the summer holidays

00:01:17.687 --> 00:01:21.250
and as I got older,
I was also provided 1 to 1 counseling

00:01:21.750 --> 00:01:25.625
from when I was 16
and I was too old to continue attending.

00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:29.375
I was able to stay on as a volunteer,
which basically,

00:01:30.750 --> 00:01:33.187
helped me when I then applied to college

00:01:33.187 --> 00:01:37.375
to do my BTEC National Diploma
and then become a social worker.

00:01:38.875 --> 00:01:40.375
I learned that as an adult

00:01:40.375 --> 00:01:44.125
I’d attended young carers,
because the social worker

00:01:44.125 --> 00:01:49.312
who had visited all those years ago
had made a referral for me to attend.

00:01:50.875 --> 00:01:53.312
And I kind of hope this doesn't sound

00:01:53.312 --> 00:01:55.687
too dramatic, but that social worker

00:01:55.687 --> 00:01:58.687
changed my life.

00:01:59.062 --> 00:02:01.750
And she didn't try to intervene herself.

00:02:01.750 --> 00:02:05.500
She didn't make herself responsible
for building a therapeutic relationship

00:02:05.500 --> 00:02:07.000
with me or my parent.

00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:09.437
She didn't even change my parents.

00:02:09.437 --> 00:02:12.625
Instead,
she identified a need and made a referral

00:02:12.625 --> 00:02:17.062
to a service that could provide long
term, quite intensive, and ultimately

00:02:17.312 --> 00:02:21.250
therapeutic support
that profoundly altered my outcomes.