Gil praises Milngavie-based charity helping 1,000+ unpaid carers every year

A FUNDING boost to help young unpaid carers in East Dunbartonshire has been welcomed by Milngavie’s MSP.

Carers Link East Dunbartonshire secured £49,920 from the Big Lottery’s Young Start Fund on January 24.

Mr Paterson has praised the work of the charity, which assists more than 1,000 unpaid carers every year in the area.

The Clydebank and Milngavie MSP has also lodged a motion to the Scottish Parliament commending the work of Carers Link.

He said: “Supporting more than 1,000 unpaid carers every year is an absolutely phenomenal amount of work – so I am glad this funding has come through for Carers Link East Dunbartonshire.
“It’s great to see the funding go to the young carers, who can much of the time find themselves in highly stressful situations they were absolutely not prepared for – I applaud anything that supports them.

“It is right to recognise the work Carers Link does so I have lodged a parliamentary motion to share the great work done to fellow MSPs and the government.”

Jennifer Roe, the chief executive officer of Carers Link East Dunbartonshire, said: “Carers Link is delighted that to receive ongoing support from The Big Lottery Young Start Fund, enabling us to continue our successful work with young adult carers.

“The life of a young adult is full of important decisions about the future, as well as educational and social pressures. For those in a caring role, these challenges are more difficult and they can often feel socially excluded and isolated.

“In the last year alone, we helped 22 young adult carers into college and university places, work placements and jobs, and this funding will allow us to support more young people to achieve their goals.

“We are grateful to Gil for his recognition of our work, and for the increased publicity that the parliamentary motion will give it. The more people that know about our service, the more people that we can help.”
ENDS

The parliamentary motion reads:
“That the Parliament congratulates Carers Link East Dunbartonshire based in Milngavie for a successful application to Young Start by the Big Lottery Fund for a £49,920 grant; notes the project that the charity applied for will involve a holistic approach to supporting young people with caring responsibilities in the development of person-centred action plans for young adult carers for access to information and advocacy about their caring roles, identify and pursue educational, training and employment opportunities; understands 70 young unpaid adult carers will be involved in the project over two years; recognises the instrumental work done by Carers Link East Dunbartonshire to assist more than 1,000 unpaid carers in the area each year; welcomes the funding boost provided by the Big Lottery Fund across Scotland.”