'Do I look like I care?' wins prestigious international award
Our ‘Do I look like I care?’ campaign has won ‘Best Knowledge of Young People’ Award at the European Youth Card Association’s (EYCA) Excellence Awards 2020.
The EYCA Excellence Awards celebrate the best youth projects across Europe. We were recognised for our ‘Do I Look Like I Care?’ campaign that launched earlier this year during Carers Week 2020.
The campaign was designed to promote the new digital entitlements on offer to young carers across Scotland as part of our Young Carers Package #YSCarers.
The free entitlement package is available to anyone aged 11-18-years-old who regularly cares for a family member, friend, or member of their community on a long-term and unpaid basis. Young people access the package using their Young Scot National Entitlement Card.
When lockdown began, we quickly redesigned our Young Carers Package #YSCarers, taking into account government guidelines and restrictions. The package was adapted to the changing world, providing young carers with online opportunities for self-care and help to stay connected with others. It included access to mindfulness apps, mobile data, period product vouchers and online retailer vouchers.
With the support of the Scottish Government, we launched a national social media campaign using the tag line “Do I Look Like I Care?” encouraging young people to self-identify as a carer. The campaign featured crowd-sourced content of young carers as well as a video from the First Minister thanking young carers and encouraging them to take advantage of offer. The creative direction of the campaign was developed in partnership with Emperor in Edinburgh.
The campaign gained impressive reach on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook and has now been seen over four million times on social media alone. As a result, applications for the Young Carers Package #YSCarers have doubled.
Click here to find out more about our Young Carers Package #YSCarers
“A lot of the time young people don’t see themselves as a young carer. Our aim is to support them in their caring role by raising awareness of the resources and services on offer to them. We’re thrilled to have been awarded the ‘Best Knowledge of Young People’ Award and that our ‘Do I Look Like I Care?’ campaign was has been recognised in this way by our European peers.”