Surviving COVID: The impact of the pandemic on young people A short film exploring the impact on children and young people who are caring or grieving for friends and relatives who’ve become seriously ill from COVID-19

Amina: Majidah, I have to do cooking quickly.

Amina: He's a very nice person because he's a caring dad Sometimes he's grumpy and we like that part of him because we laugh about it

Sama’s family (singing): # Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you #

Kalisha: The teachers were telling us about the virus. They said that sometimes it kills people, sometimes it, um, some people survive from it.

Interviewer: How long has your dad been in hospital for?

Kalisha: Since March. Two months and some weeks.

Martina Kane: Even in the midst of this incredibly challenging year, young people really have, you know, stepped up in a huge way. Lots of them are taking on caring responsibilities. Taking responsibilities around cleaning, around caring for younger siblings, and that's a real change in a dynamic in a family.

Kalisha: I have to try and help my sisters study, a lot. It's been very hard because they, um, they miss my dad, too. My littlest sister, she always cries in the night and says she misses Daddy, she misses Daddy. And then my second sister, she always sleeps with my mum because she's always scared.

Martina Kane: In terms of their education, a huge number of young people are still sort of being taken out of classrooms whilst they need to isolate. Because of the way the brain develops, social contact with peers is incredibly important. For young people to suddenly not see their friends is a huge, huge change. The world really turned upside down for a lot of them, and they described feeling incredibly lonely. A lot of them talked about how digital communication just isn't the same.

Interviewer: Have you been able to see your dad at all in hospital?

Kalisha: No, but we do do a video call so we can say hello to him. I feel happy that I get to see him but then I feel sad because it sometimes makes my mum cry so then I cry as well.

Amina: Hello, we hope you can hear us. Please come back. Please come back.

Kalisha: Most of the time I actually think about my dad but sometimes I have to try and put it out of my mind because it upsets me a lot.

Martina Kane: The adolescent age group, secondary school and right up to really early adulthood is really crucial. We've seen a lot of people of all sorts of generations being affected, having their mental health affected.

David: They said he had a cardiac arrest and I was really like broken from that, and really scared.

Deji: Being 18, I just turned 18 in December. I was expecting 2020 to be like, me being 18, this whole time I would have been having the time of my life and having my experiences. But I just have to live this life and see exactly what happens and be strong because it is a really tough time.

Martina Kane: Lots of young people were expressing really deep concerns about whether or not there is going to be a future out there for them. A lot of them are beginning to feel a sense of hopelessness, that, you know, what is there for me? Are there going to be jobs? COVID has affected all areas of life and things like lockdown, access to education, cancelling of exams, has had a huge impact. So the Health Foundation has been working with young people between 12 and 24 , really trying to look at how you can really set them off on a path that means they they have a healthy future. So if you can really get young people into a secure sort of stable foundation then that that will leave them in the best position to be able to thrive throughout the rest of their adulthood.