Video: Orkney young carers share their story with new short film

Today, Thursday, is National Young Carers Day and, to mark the occasion, a new short film made by a group of youngsters from Orkney was shown at a Kirkwall Grammar School assembly, this morning.

The short animation, which aims to highlight to folk what it’s like to be a young carer, is the result of a four-month long project which saw a team from Crossroad Young Carers work with young people’s charity, Fixers.

The film, which is also available to view on Youtube, tells the story of Thorfinn — a 12-year-old who cares for his dad who has Multiple Sclerosis. While the story is fictional, it represents a typical situation that many young carers find themselves in.

“We were asked by the fixers to make a film about a particular subject we wanted to do, so we chose to show what it’s like to be a young carer,” explained 17-year-old Julie Sivier.

“We made an animation to raise awareness and our target audience was younger ones — so primary school age and the junior end of high school.

The film made by the young carers is now available to watch online and can be viewed below.

For further information about Crossroads Orkney, you can visit www.crossroadsorkney.co.uk or telephone 01856 870500.

For the full story, see this week’s The Orcadian.