Coleg y Cymoedd one of the first in Wales to be awarded Quality Standard for their support towards Young Carers

Coleg y Cymoedd has successfully secured a Quality Standard Accreditation in Carer Support, an honour specially developed by carers to recognise the highest level of commitment that an organisation can give to supporting Young Adult Carers.

Named as one of just two educational institutions in Wales, Cymoedd is extremely proud to have received this distinction.

The largest FE provider in Caerphilly and Rhondda Cynon Taff, the college has proactively identified students with caring roles and created support for them. In turn, this has helped improve course retention and boosted morale to help maximise opportunity.

The college marked the award in a special ceremony at its Nantgarw campus this week. Keynote speaker, Deputy Minister for Social Services, Julie Morgan MS, delivered her congratulations to the college’s Wellbeing and Safeguarding Team, whilst the Young Carers in attendance applauded testimonials from former students and Young Carers, Jay Lee Jenkins, Alisha Morgan, and Rosie Adams, who became one of the first Young Carers from Coleg y Cymoedd to successfully gain a university place earlier this year.

The accolade comes as Cymoedd has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to supporting Young Adult Carers with a uniformed provision with a localised focus across each of its four campuses to meet the different needs of students.

This includes initiatives to support ongoing development and improvements such as the Young Carer Award, offering transitional support into Higher Education, training or employment and additional support out of term time.

When confirming the college’s award, QSCS Assessor, Naomi Sykes said: “Coleg y Cymoedd staff, particularly […] the Wellbeing Team, show recognition and respect toward the achievements of students with caring responsibilities in overcoming the challenges and barriers they face.

“They pride themselves on offering a reactive and responsive service to meet individual students’ changing need. The college has shown innovative thinking in developing support, including its annual Young Carer Award and the aim to introduce a Multi-Site Financial Wellbeing Advisor, [and] there is a focus on Widening Participation and Community Involvement evidenced in the college’s partnerships with carers services and HE providers.”

Head of Wellbeing and Safeguarding, Joel Price said: “We are delighted that our support of Young Adult Carers has been recognised in the QSQC Award.

It’s a confirmation that Coleg y Cymoedd are practicing great initiatives and are leading the way when it comes to support for Young Adult Carers not only in the surrounding areas, but in Wales as a whole.

We have come so far in the past few years and will continue to push for higher standards of provision for Young Carers to raise awareness of their role and how much they can achieve with the right support.

I’d like to take the opportunity to congratulate our Wellbeing Team and to thank them for the careful care and attention that they have put into improving the experience of our Young Carer students in college and beyond. And also, to thank our partners in RCT and Caerphilly Young Carers who we work so well with. We wouldn’t have been able to have come this far without them.

As the population of Young Carers in Rhondda Cynon Taf and Caerphilly gets higher, provisions for Young Carers need to evolve too. We owe it to them. They don’t get enough time for themselves.

This award is a celebration of the remarkable, resilient young people that we get the privilege to work with every day.”

Find out more about Coleg y Cymoedd’s commitment to Wellbeing and Safeguarding, here: https://www.cymoedd.ac.uk/learner-support/welfare-wellbeing/

Share!