FAQ

The Disc Drive is the 46th Blue Peter appeal and will run from November 2007 until November 2008. The aim is to raise money to support Barnardo’s work with young carers.

We’re asking children across the UK to collect unwanted CDs, DVDs and computer games and donate them to Barnardo’s. The discs will then be sold in Barnardo’s shops across the UK to raise money for young carers. Please note that we can only use saleable discs – please make sure they are original items and in good condition.

Discs can be taken to any one of around 2400 drop off points around the UK. Barnardo’s shops (350), BBC local radio stations (50) and Lloyds TSB branches (2000) are all collecting for the Disc Drive. Schoolchildren can also donate discs at their school, if their school is taking part.

Barnardo’s can only use discs of saleable quality. Please only donate undamaged and original items. Where facilities allow, any unsaleable discs will be recycled, either at the central warehouse, or on a case by case basis, in shops.

Click here and enter your postcode to find your nearest drop off point. Schoolchildren should ask their teacher if their school is collecting for the Disc Drive. Schools can also request a collection pack here.

We’re sorry there isn’t a drop off point that’s convenient for you. With over 2400 around the UK we hope to have most people covered.

You can post your discs to the Disc Drive at
Blue Peter Disc Drive,
DHL,
Kimpton Road,
Luton,
LU2 0JX

Schools with more than 80 discs can arrange a DHL collection, at no cost to them. This option is only available to schools, who can call 08701 100 300 and quote account number 180617678 with account name ‘Barnardo’s’.

Yes please! You can collect discs anywhere, and donate them to the Disc Drive either at one of the drop off points or by sending them to
Blue Peter Disc Drive,
DHL,
Kimpton Road,
Luton,
LU2 0JX.

No. Unfortunately we can not add individual’s collection points to the database of addresses that people can search for through the website.

The appeal aims to collect at least 250,000 saleable discs.

The appeal aims to collect at least 250,000 saleable discs, but due to the varying values of donated items, it is impossible to predict the exact amount of money these would generate. We hope to be able to sell each donated saleable disc for around £2, so our target at launch is to raise about £500,000.

Barnardo’s will sell the discs from the Disc Drive in their 350 shops, and raise money to support their work with young carers in the UK.

Barnardo’s will spend the appeal money to fund their work across the UK with young carers. The money will be spent in 3 broadly defined areas:

1. Expert Help: sessions with Barnardo’s support workers.
2. Reclaim Their Childhood: giving young carers a chance to take part in normal everyday activities and their own hobbies and interests, offering respite from their daily routine of care.
3. Contact With Other Young Carers: enabling clubs, support groups and networks so young carers can meet, relax and share stories.

A young carer is a child under 18 who looks after someone – often their Mum or Dad – who is physically or mentally ill, disabled, or has problems with drugs or alcohol.

Research by Loughborough University also found that:

• The average age of young carers is 12, but they can be as young as five years old.
• 86% of young carers are of compulsory school age.
• One in five young carers miss school because of their caring responsibilities.
• Most parents want to do the best they can for their children but sometimes have to rely on their children because they are not getting enough help themselves.

The 2001 Census estimated that there are 175,000 young carers aged under 18 in the UK. We now estimate that there are about 200,000.

Further statistics –

• Around three million children in the UK have a family member with a disability.
• Around a quarter of a million young people in the UK live with a parent who is misusing a Class A drug.
• 920,000 young people in the UK are children of alcoholic parents

Young carers might be:

• Providing physical care, such as lifting a family member out of bed, helping them with personal hygiene, or cooking their meals
• Providing emotional care, such as supporting a parent through depression or dealing with the aftermath of a drinking binge
• Taking responsibility, such as cooking meals for younger siblings, taking them to school, administering medication, doing a substantial amount of housework, or running the household

The lives of individual young carers vary greatly, but the following problems can arise:

• Young carers can fall behind at school and miss days or even weeks
• They may leave school with few or no qualifications
• They may take out their frustrations or anger at school
• They may experience bullying because they are seen as isolated or different
• Fellow pupils may make fun of them or of their family’s problems
• They may find it difficult to have a normal social life, or be isolated from peers
• They may be afraid of talking to professionals about the family’s problems, ashamed of their situation, protective of their parents, or worried about splitting the family up
• They may feel angry, upset, hurt, worried, anxious or uncertain, leading to emotional problems and stress
• They may suffer physical problems such as back injuries from heavy lifting, or tiredness and lack of sleep
• They may experience traumatic life changes such as bereavement, family break up, lost income or the illness and addiction of their loved ones
• They are more likely to experience poverty or social exclusion
• They may be disadvantaged in the labour market when they leave school
• They may have to take on more responsibilities than they should because their parents are not getting all the support and benefits they are entitled to

1. 250 discs could pay for one young carer to have life–changing support for one year

Expert Help:

1. 10 discs could pay for one session with a counsellor, helping a young carer to cope with their experience
2. 5,000 discs could mean that 20 more young carers can have regular expert support for a year
3. 8 discs could pay for an advice session to make sure a young carer’s family is getting all the benefits they’re entitled to

Reclaiming Childhood:

1. 20 discs could pay for a young carer to have a much needed day off
2. 25 discs could pay for a young carer to join a sports club or dance class and enjoy a hard earned break from their responsibilities
3. 10 discs could enable a young carer to take part in a local event in their own community, like a local football match, or a trip to a museum
4. 5 discs could pay for transport for a young carer to enjoy an after school club

Contact With Other Young Carers:

1. 3 discs could pay for a young carer to go to a support group with other young carers, where they can share their experiences, feel less alone and increase their self esteem and confidence
2. 5 discs could pay for a young carer to have a break at an after–school group with other young carers for a couple of hours

We’re sorry but we don’t award Blue Peter badges for helping with our Appeals, because we think it’s important to everyone to help those people who need help for just that reason. However we will be awarding badges to children who write in with interesting letters about what they’ve done to help, good ideas for the programme, drawings, pictures, stories or poems with an appeal theme. If you would like to submit a piece of work that tells us about what you’re doing to help, please visit the Blue Peter website for more details. We hope to hear from you very soon.

The Blue Peter production team invite contributors to appear on Blue Peter if they have an interesting item that would be exciting on television. Although we’re delighted you have supported the Disc Drive, this would not in itself merit an invitation to appear. If you’d like to tell Blue Peter in detal why you think you could appear, please visit the website and go to the “contact us” section.

Unfortunately, it is not possible for you to meet the presenters. They have such busy filming and studio schedules that they couldn’t commit to a meeting. We would hate to let you down at the last minute, as their commitments to Blue Peter have to come first.

We’re sorry, but Blue Peter is not filmed in front of an audience

You can contact the Disc Drive directly on 0845 092 0085 if you have concerns about young carer issues or any other part of the appeal. Calls are free from UK landlines but may be charged from a mobile “ please check with your service provider.

If you are in distress then you may want to call ChildLine on 0800 11 11.

No. You are only allowed to keep copies of discs if you still have the original purchased disc. This means that if you have ripped a CD to your MP3 player or burnt a spare copy of a DVD or games disc and you want to donate that disc to the Disc Drive, you have to get rid of (or delete) the copy you have made. The reason for this is that if people keep copies like this, then the music, film and games industries won’t make the money they need to pay those people who created the music, film or game in the first place.

Only CD, DVD or computer game donations are being collected and sold to raise money for the Blue Peter Disc Drive. Any other donated items will be gratefully received at Barnardo’s shops, and the money they raise will support the full range of Barnardo’s work but they will not necessarily go towards helping young carers.

Cheque donations can be made payable to ‘Barnardo‘s‘ and sent to Blue Peter Disc Drive, c/o Ben Carpenter, Barnardo’s, Tanner’s Lane, Barkingside, IG6 1QG. Thank you.

The Disc Drive is Blue Peter‘s 46th annual appeal and since 1963 we have worked with a huge range of different charities both here at home in the UK and overseas in countries where people need help. Since 1987 Blue Peter Appeals have alternated each year between helping people here in the UK and helping people overseas. The way that the decision is made is that charities who would like to apply to be the Appeal partner send in a proposal and Blue Peter invites the best of these to come for an interview at Television Centre. The panel then decide which one would make the best partner. The process is overseen by the BBC Appeals Advisory Committee. For more information and to see the current application guidelines for 2008/09, please click here

We think Barnardo‘s are an excellent partner for the Disc Drive for several reasons. As one of the UK‘s leading children‘s charities, Barnardo’s believes in children regardless of their circumstances, gender, race, disability or behaviour. They believe in the abused, the vulnerable, the forgotten and the neglected. They promise to support them, stand up for them and bring out the best in each and every child that they work with. Blue Peter thoughts it would be good to help young carers this year and Barnardo‘s works with over 2000 young carers right across the UK.

Unfortunately if a disc is not in its sleeve or box then we won't be able to sell it in Barnardo's shops, so please don't drop these discs off.

The freebie discs from newspaper promotions don't sell well in Barnardo's shops, and when they do it's for much less than for a normal disc. So, while we welcome any donated disc and can raise a very small amount of money from freebies, we would encourage everyone to focus on collecting unwanted and saleable bought discs.

We're delighted that the Disc Drive has had interest from other services for young carers, but the answer to this is really "no". Blue Peter will only feature young carers at Barnardo's services, as this is where the money raised by the Disc Drive is going. Showing any other work with young carers could be misleading to our audience. The funds raised are ring-fenced exclusively for Barnardo's Young Carer Services because Barnardo's is the charity formally selected by Blue Peter to benefit from this Appeal.

We would obviously be extremely grateful if you wanted to take part and support the Disc Drive by collecting discs or holding a Disco. Everything you need to know or print off is at www.discdrive.org.uk.

There are excellent short BBC films about the lives of some of Barnardo's young carers at www.discdrive.org.uk/why-do-it/young-carer-videos that you might find useful to show at your service or distribute for others to view.

Thanks to the support of Lloyds TSB you can drop off your discs for the Disc Drive at any one of their 2000 branches across the UK, as well as 350 Barnardo's shops or any BBC Radio Station. We would love every shop to act as a drop-off for the Disc Drive but unfortunately it is not possible to set this up.