JENNY GILRUTH MSP IS ‘MAKING CARING VISIBLE’ THIS CARERS WEEK
Published date : 10 Jun 2020
Mid Fife and Glenrothes MSP, Jenny Gilruth, is encouraging businesses, community groups, and individuals across Fife to promote the vital contribution being made by unpaid carers during Carers Week 2020.
As part of Carers Week 2020, the MSP is joining members of the Young Carers Focus Group, a working group within Fife Young Carers that advocate and fight for the rights of Young Carers across the Kingdom, for an online meeting on Thursday afternoon. Attendees at the meeting will discuss support for Young Carers and explore ways to make caring more visible.
The MSP has also welcomed the Scottish Government’s announcement of a £300,000 support package to help young carers across Scotland.
Young Scot will receive £200,000 to provide online subscriptions and e-vouchers for young carers, whilst £100,000 will go to expanding the Time To Live small grant scheme.
The Scottish Government also committed a further £19.2 million to provide further support to Scottish carers during the Covid-19 pandemic in its emergency coronavirus legislation. In her ministerial role, Ms Gilruth worked as part of the government team to deliver the legislation with unanimous support from MSP.
As a result, 83,000 eligible carers across Scotland, including around 6,080 in Fife, will get an extra £230.10 through a special one-off Coronavirus Carer’s Allowance Supplement later this month.
Carers Week 2020, which takes place from 8 – 14 June across the UK, was established by Carers UK 26 years ago as an annual awareness campaign aiming to celebrate and recognise the vital contribution made by the UK’s 6.5 million carers.
Commenting ahead of her meeting with the Fife Young Carers Focus Group, Jenny Gilruth MSP said:
“I am always in awe of our carers who work so hard to look after others, often alongside other commitments. This is particularly the case for our young carers who need our support to ensure they look after themselves, too.
“That’s why I’m pleased to see the Scottish Government kickstart Carers Week with an announcement of £300,000 for our young carers. I am looking forward to meeting with young carers from across Fife this week to hear about their experiences as well as their ideas about how we can make caring more visible.
“All of our carers have faced additional pressures during the Covid-19 pandemic, which is why the Scottish Government’s commitment to provide them with an additional allowance this month is so important. Given the importance of our carers, it’s only appropriate that their hard work is valued and properly supported by our government.
“Carers Week is a great opportunity for all of us in Fife to make the role of carers more visible to the wider health and care system and increase awareness of the need to support them.”
Amber Reid, Development Worker, at of Fife Young Carers said:
“The theme for this year’s Carers Week ‘Making Caring Visible’ could not be more apt given the current circumstances. Young and Adult Carers are our unpaid, and often overlooked, Key Workers and we must realise the fundamental role they play in society and the difficulties and sacrifices they make on a daily basis due to their caring roles.
“We at Fife Young Carers believe it is everyone’s business to help ‘Make Caring Visible’ and encourage everyone to do so by using the R.U.L.E.: Respect Young and Adult Carers in their caring role, Understand the difficulties and challenges they may face, Listen to what a Young or Adult Carer has to say and Encourage Carers to pursue their dreams.
“We are delighted by the news of additional funding being allocated to Young Carers for support during this crisis and welcome the much needed additional resources this will bring for Young Carers across Scotland. We know our Young Carers have really struggled the past few months without respite provision, so the additional funding for Time to Live will make a big difference to them.
“If anyone would like any further information on how to support Young Carers, we encourage you to follow our social media channels, Facebook and Twitter, for guides, activities and advice on how to achieve this. Together we can #MakeCaringVisible.”
ENDS
Editors’ Notes
For more information about Carers Week 2020 visit: https://www.carersweek.org/about-us.
The Young Scot package is available to all young carers aged 11-18 and can be applied for via the Young Scot website: https://young.scot/campaigns/national/young-carers.
The Time to Live small grants are available to young carers of any age through their local delivery partner – usually a local carers centre. Carers can find out where their nearest delivery partner is via the Shared Care Scotland website: https://www.sharedcarescotland.org.uk/shortbreaksfund/timetolive/.
Eligible young carers can apply for the Young Carer Grant via the Social Security Scotland website: https://applications.socialsecurity.gov.scot/young-carer-grant.
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