This is up to you! It can take between 1 - 2 hours, but it depends on what you want to talk about and how long you want to spend with us. 

We can speak to you alone, either at home or at school. Your parents/carer will get a copy of the needs assessment once it is completed.

If there are any concerns about your safety or the safety of others we may also need to take it further and discuss this with other agencies to ensure everyone gets the help they need.

When we come to talk to you, we will either use our phone or tablet to record the conversation, or write some notes on paper while you are talking, to help us remember what you said.

We will then type up the whole conversation and store it on our online system, which has your own record. We will also use what you have told us to make you a support plan – a list of things we think would be good to help you.

If we record the conversation, we will delete the recording once your Needs Assessment is typed up and saved to your record, usually within 3 days of meeting you.

Only if you want them to! You might want them to understand a little more about the role you have - we know it can be challenging to care alongside completing school work. Telling your school can help them support you with this, but it is your decision.

Confidentiality means that something is kept private and is not shared with anyone who doesn’t need to know the information.

The conversation we have with you will be in a private space, with no one else except for someone from The Carers’ Centre team, yourself and, sometimes, someone else who you want with you, if this is possible.

You can choose how much information you want to tell us, you don’t need to answer all the questions if you don’t want to.

We do share your Needs Assessment and support plan with your parent/guardian. We can also share it with your school if you want us to (sometimes it helps them understand your needs a bit better).

We work with the council, who may ask to see your Needs Assessment in the future, but only if there is a real need to do this.

We are here to help you as much as we can, if we feel that you or someone else is in danger, there is a chance of being hurt or in serious trouble, we may need to speak to another adult to make sure everyone is kept safe. We can’t keep secrets if someone is at risk.

If you want to talk to us about something but don’t want this to be recorded for others to see, let us know and we can word it in a different way.

A parent or guardian will need to book it for you by calling our Freephone Support Line on 0800 0388 885 or emailing support@banescarerscentre.org.uk.