Carers in North Yorkshire are to benefit from a new partnership which will give them vital extra support and opportunities.

York and Selby Carers Project, Hambleton and Richmondshire Carers Association and Scarborough and Ryedale Carers Resource have all been made Princess Royal Trust Carers Centres.

Being under the national umbrella provided by the Trust will enable local groups to share their expertise and experience with other groups around the country, and to reach more carers and so provide them with invaluable assistance.

"We are absolutely delighted to be joining the Princess Royal Trust, and are particularly pleased that we have been able to do so at the same time as we have a long history of mutual support and co-operation," said a spokesman for the groups.

"Being part of the network will undoubtedly help us to promote our services and to reach more carers, many of whom have little or no help.

"It will also benefit many individual carers locally as we will now be able to access special grants - for example to assist carers who wish to take up an educational opportunity, or those who are going through real hardship."

Carers are people who look after a friend or family member who is disabled, ill or frail.

The local organisations provide confidential advice, support and information for carers in their area.

They work closely with health bodies, local authorities and the voluntary sector groups to promote understanding of what it is like to be a carer and to develop support services.

Dawn O'Rooke, of the York and Selby Carers Project which has more than 1,000 people on its mailing list, said that by forming links with other groups in the country they could pass on their own expertise to others.

"We have done a lot of pioneering work with GPs' surgeries so by joining up to this national network we now have the opportunity to share this experience with other carers' groups, and vice versa," she said.

"And if we can get any extra support in return that has got to be good for carers."

Catherine Lee, of Hambleton and Richmondshire Carers Association, said they had more than 15 years of experience to share with other organisations.

"We have a long history of work with carers that we can build on and in turn offer this to others," she said.

The Princess Royal Trust for Carers has established a network of 92 centres around the country.

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