A SCHEME to support young carers looking after family members with illness or disabilities has won funding.

Charity Carers’ Resource, which has offices in Harrogate and Ripon, is marking a decade of support for young carers across the county by working with them on creating a new range of services for the next ten years.

Funding has been granted to the charity by the Carers Trust and the Cooperative Society to start a new two-year project to support young adult carers to improve their life chances and to help them to make a positive transition to adulthood.

The charity has also been selected by the Department of Education and the Council for Disabled Children to play a key role in a major research project, deciding how the Government’s £30 million support programme will be carried out.

Anne Smyth, founding director of Carers’ Resource, said: “While we live in a growing, ageing population where the role of the carers has never been so important, yet the unique needs of young carers living in our community and playing such a crucial role in family life still often goes overlooked.

“The next few weeks will highlight the relentless pressures many of them face, showing maturity beyond their years by actively caring for a family member one minute, while revising and sitting an exam the next.”

As well as a being caring charity we are also a listening one and, thanks to the generosity shown by the local community in supporting our work, we are proud to work with young carers to ensure our future programme of support for them matches their changing needs and demands. Their views will be pivotal in developing and extending our services, cementing our position as a leading provider of advice, guidance and support to a most deserving part of our population.”