During this June and July I am working with Mess Up The Mess to promote two exciting productions: ‘Walk in Our Shoes’ and ‘Humanequin’, which have been created by young people across South Wales in order to inspire and create change within their communities.

The first is ‘Walk in Our Shoes’. It is an immersive, intimate theatrical experience in which the audiences in Newport experience the daily life of a young carer. The performance is aimed at teachers and other professionals, who work with young carers in order to share with them the stress and anxiety a young carer feels every day and the impact this has on their school life and work. 

This week online you can watch the digital stories of 3 young carers. Today, we heard from Lizzie who is 17 (click here to watch her story). Watching and listening to her story I couldn't get over how brave and strong she is, and I have so much admiration for her. At 17 I definitely wasn't as level headed as her! Follow Mess Up the Mess' twitter account so as not to miss out on tomorrow and Friday's digital stories. 

Next week is Carer's Week and as part of this we will be Live-Tweeting the first public performance of 'Walk in Our Shoes' at 1:30pm on Monday (8th June) from the Mess Up the Mess' twitter account and using the hashtag: #Walkinourshoes

The young carers from Barnardo’s Cymru Young Carers project in Newport aged 11-18 plus young volunteers from Mess Up The Mess Theatre Company with support from, mental health charity, Mind want to make a difference. Through this project they want to create a lasting legacy in Newport by introducing a young carers card for schools that enables young people to share information about their situation without having to frequently retell their story, which can often lead to anxiety and stress. It will have the contact details for their support worker, who the teacher could then call to find out specific information. After seeing the performance they want schools to sign up to be part of the card scheme. 

For me, this is where theatre is most powerful. It gives us a voice. I'm excited to hear the voice of the young carers through their performance and I'm excited to see the changes which come about through 'Walk in Our Shoes'.