Care.Fair.Share pledge

KEY PUBLIC bodies in Shetland have pledged their support for the the Scottish Youth Parliament’s campaign to ensure young carers are treated fairly by society and policy makers.

SIC leader Gary Robinson and NHS Shetland chairman Ian Kinniburgh backed the Care.Fair.Share campaign on behalf of the Shetland Partnership, whose members include key public sector bodies, charities and local trusts.

Care.Fair.Share seeks greater recognition of young carers’ situations so they are not prevented from receiving further education and engaging in social activities.

The campaign is pursuing several avenues aimed at alleviating financial strain on young carers, including:

• addressing administrative inconsistencies which result in some young carers losing their entitlement to educational maintenance allowance;
• gaining additional funding for young carers struggling to afford further education due to their caring responsibilities;
• alleviating the cost of travel for young carers between school, work and home to fulfill their caring and education duties.

Robinson said he was pleased to support the principles of the campaign.

“Many young carers live in low incomes and suffer financial strain trying to look after family members whilst trying [to] work part time or study. We need to take steps to address this wherever we can.”

Kinniburgh said young carers provided an essential service to their families and wider society “and the resulting financial hardship and inequality of access many young carers face in Scotland is unfair”.

He added: “It is estimated that the work of young carers directly benefits the UK Government by around £1.6 billion annually. We should recognise the contribution they make by supporting change to improve their life chances.” 

• You can find out more about the Care.Fair.Share campaign at http://www.syp.org.uk/care-fair-share