Caithness young carers come face to face with exotic animals at 10th anniversary party
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Young carers in Caithness celebrated the first decade of the charity that supports them by coming face to face with a collection of furry, spiky, scaly and feathered creatures.
Caithness Klics marked its 10th anniversary with a party on Monday in Staxigoe village hall where children were treated to an entertaining and educational presentation by The Exotic Animal Encounter, based in the county.
The company brought along a Burmese python, a sulcata tortoise and a lesser tenrec as well as owls, meerkats and an armadillo.
Afterwards the youngsters were treated to refreshments.
Wick-based Klics supports young people across the county who, for a range of reasons, have taken on caring responsibilities for family members.
There are currently 98 young carers on the charity's books, aged from five to 18. The service is run by full-time manager Wendy Thain along with seven part-time staff.
“It's usually a family member and it doesn't have to be someone that lives necessarily in the home," Miss Thain explained. "So you might have a granny or grandad that might live down the street from you but you've got to nip and give them medication or do their shopping for them, so sometimes it can be a bit wider spread.
“There is a lot more of the mental health side where kids are supporting a parent in the home because of maybe social anxiety and things like that. It's such a thing after Covid as well that we're definitely seeing more of.
“I think people are surprised about just what happens in the home and how much responsibility maybe a five-year-old has. I've seen a five-year-old nip down to get shopping in the morning or rolls from the bakery to feed the family because maybe mum is not able to get out of bed.
"Maybe they are dressing siblings too, and just making sure that everybody has got their school bags to get out the door.
“You've got these little people that are doing an adult role.”
She added: “Years ago when we first established Klics it was aged eight but we were getting so many referrals in for below eight that we had to sit down and review it. That was probably about three years into us establishing Klics, so it was fairly early on that we decided that we would drop the age to five."
The young carers come from across Caithness and numbers are rising again post-pandemic.
“Obviously during Covid we had a wee bit of a dip," Miss Thain said. "We dipped from 112 at that time to about 80, so we lost a few, but we are now sitting at 98 so we are creeping back up.”
The charity's original HQ was at the old Wick South Primary School before it moved into the old Playbox Playgroup base near the former Hillhead Primary School in 2020. It has been transformed into a welcoming space for young carers with a pool table, TVs, a book snug, an art room and a kitchen.
"We have staff here that are trying to develop the project, and putting in funding applications," Miss Thain said. "We're always planning ahead with activities for kids to do while they're at groups. Then we pick up the kids from the schools and we take them here – we have a really good facility.
“We always make sure that we give them something to eat, something hot in their tummies, because we don't know what their situation is at home. Sometimes we have a healthy eating week where we would have really healthy stuff.
"We're trying to make everything fun, giving them the kinds of opportunities that they wouldn't necessarily get at home. Coming from the food poverty side, a lot of them don't get the things that they would necessarily get at Klics."
Miss Thain described the three guiding principles of Klics as "reducing stress, building friendships and building self-esteem".
She explained: "A lot of them don't know how to socialise – they don't know what a social environment is like, so it's really to boost their confidence while they're here."
As part of the anniversary celebrations, people who have benefited from Klics in the past are being welcomed back for a visit at two sessions this week.
“Some of them I still have links with and support in their adult life," Miss Thain said. "They're always going to be a Klics bairn, is what I call it.
"At any stage of their life they can come back to me and quite often I find myself just checking in with these kids that are maybe aged 18, 19 or 20 now."
The main referral agencies for Klics tend to be schools, social work and child protection.
“We do have really good links with all the schools in Caithness and we have such a good bond with social work now," Miss Thain said. "It has taken quite a lot of years, I suppose, to be recognised.”
Miss Thain and her sister Shena McBeath co-founded Klics (Kids Living in Caring Situations) in 2013.
The Exotic Animal Encounter provides educational visits as well as appearances at shows, events, parties and weddings.
