The Riverside Stadium, the home of Middlesbrough Football Club, is not the sort of place you would usually associate with an ‘it all makes sense’ moment, but that is what happened to me the other evening – and no footballs were involved!
I attended the celebration of young carers’ event organised by The Junction Foundation – an excellent local organisation which supports children, young people and families including those who have a caring role, usually for parents or siblings. This event took place during Carers Week which is the annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK.
Often at these events I am quite self-conscious because, although I am a Strategic Development Officer at MVDA I also happen to have a disability. Part of my role is to ensure that the voluntary sector in Middlesbrough is properly represented and engaged in all things carers and through the development of the Strategy to support and value carers in Middlesbrough 2015 – 2019 , I am now leading the development of the new Middlesbrough Carers Strategic Partnership (with its first meeting in July), which will bring multi-agency partners together to co-ordinate and ensure delivery of the outcomes identified in the strategy.
As a disabled person, although not on a regular basis, I sometimes have conversations with people who say (whether they mean it or not) that I am an ‘inspiration’ to them. I suspect this is more to do with being a disabled person in a non-disabled world, rather than being a Strategic Development Officer – although some would argue this! I have always found this uncomfortable as basically all I’m trying to do is to get through life like everyone else. It is probably more appropriately explained by Lawrence Clark, a comedian who also happens to have a disability, on his recent tour.
What has this got to do with young carers’ you may ask? Well, as I was sitting listening to their achievements and their life stories the word ‘inspiring’ kept coming into my head and to what Lawrence had alluded to. Although young carers are themselves trying to get through the ‘life’ which is presented to them, I think their endeavours are more inspiring than mine. Like all carers, they need to be recognised and supported appropriately by all and they certainly need to be included in the outcomes associated with the Middlesbrough Strategy.
So, although Middlesbrough FC is back in the Premiership, there are more things to inspire us than just what is happening on the pitch…
Craig Duerden
MVDA
In February 2007 Craig joined the Planning & Partnership team with a focus on Health & Social Care. He left MVDA in 2010 and re-joined us in August 2014 as Strategic Development Officer. He is currently acting as the partnership manager for both the Middlesbrough Carers Partnership and Middlesbrough Mental Health Partnership as well as leading MVDA’s work around VCS intelligence and supporting the Health and Wellbeing VCS Forum.