Who Cares!
A song written by West Sussex Young Carers: Hannah, Hollie, Ivana, Gretal, Harry, Mohammed, Ren and Murray.

We've been working with a group of young carers from across West Sussex on a singing and song-writing project. Together with West Sussex Young Carers and music practitioner Murray Hughes they've written, rehearsed and recorded a song which celebrates these remarkable young people.

CFT devised the 12-week project involving music and respite, bringing the young carers together to get to know each other and record this very special song.

Each week, they’ve been learning to sing and write their song whilst having time to get to know each other as a group. They then spent a day in the rehearsal studio, recording their amazing song Who Cares!.

‘I really like the song because it shares how I am feeling, and I love singing it.’

‘I have really enjoyed the project because I have met new people and it’s been really fun.’

‘I feel really special, and singing has helped me with my confidence. It has made me feel happy and I am really proud of myself.’

Within West Sussex there are an estimated 6,000 young carers under the age of 18. CFT has developed a strong and successful partnership with West Sussex Young Carers (WSYC), delivering workshops and arts activities to raise their social confidence and academic attainment levels.

Young carers take on huge responsibilities, looking after loved ones when they themselves are just children and teenagers, some as young as four years old. Our work with young carers aims to give them a well-deserved break and a chance just to be themselves and have fun outside of their responsibilities.

When the pandemic hit in 2020 we launched a fundraising appeal, Young Carers Connect. In partnership with WSYC, we were able to raise an incredible £91,000 to provide laptops and internet access for young people across the county as well as the opportunity to take part in an online arts programme.

Each year we run a number of initiatives for young carers, from theatre days for our summer musical and family shows to lantern-making workshops and bespoke creative wellbeing workshops. Young carers are invited to join Chichester Festival Youth Theatre (CFYT) with a fully funded bursary and can take part in targeted days and workshops.

Thank you to The D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust for supporting this project.