Lottery Cash Boost For Carers

The Princess Royal’s Fife Carers Centre, which recently moved into larger premises in the town, will be able to employ a new carer support worker, a part time information officer, and a part time administration assistant.

The new staff will help meet the growing demand for the service in Fife which currently has over 2000 carers on its books. The grant was made from the Big Lottery’s ‘Supporting 21st Century Life’ fund and will be distributed over the coming three years.

Mary Stewart, manager of the centre, said: “We had to move to bigger premises so that we would have room for new staff to expand our services to carers and meet the demand for our services. Now the Big Lottery has made it possible to employ those staff.

“We are now gearing up to increase our support to carers to improve their mental and physical health and well being, to reduce their isolation, to increase take up of available services and to ensure that carers are ‘key partners in the provision of care’ throughout Fife.”

The Princess Royal Trust Fife Carers’ Centre was established as a project in 1996, and is currently in contact with around 2,000 carers. The centre works closely with health and social work professionals to raise awareness of carers and to promote early identification and support for carers.

“We want to hold information events where workers and carers come together to exchange ideas and discuss issues, and put out information to hospitals and GP surgeries, as a lot of people tell us they haven’t heard of us,” said Mary. “We send out a newsletter to all of our members once every quarter, and the funding will also help to raise our profile and the work we do at the five centres we run in Fife.”

The Census 2001 indicated that there are nearly 34,000 carers in Fife, but the majority do not recognise themselves as carers and so are not aware that help is available to them as of right.

The Princess Royal Trust Fife Carers’ Centre provides information, advice and practical support to carers of all ages all over Fife, no matter what their circumstances.