Young adult carers from across Harrogate, Bradford and Craven have received grants to help them with their education, employment and training.
Local charity Carers’ Resource received £4,000 from the Carers Trust Quilter Aspirations Fund to give out as individual grants to young carers.
The £200 grants aimed to address barriers faced by young carers, and were spent on IT or other equipment for college, driving lessons, training courses, life coaching or subject tuition.
Gabby Hands, 16, from Keighley, said: “I am going to put my grant money towards college equipment such as stationery and software I will need for my course.
“The grant will allow me to work easily from home and in college without having to stress about the expense of the equipment.”
Josh Deacon, 17, from Bradford, said: “It has benefited me because we aren’t the richest family and it has helped me to do my work using the laptop the fund has helped me buy.”
Another young carer, Holly, from Knaresborough, who cares for her mum who has osteoarthritis, used the money to buy a body protector for her studies of equine management at college.
Holly said: “This means that I will be able to do level 2 and 3 work on my course. I can go hacking, jumping and do pole work, which I would have had to wait until next year to do if I had not got the grant.
“I want to say a huge thank you to the Young Carers team for helping me. I am so grateful to have the body protector and can’t thank everyone enough for all they have done for me to make my transition into college a pleasant experience!”
Another young carer, Steven, said: “I’m planning on using the grant money to go towards the cost of my driving lessons. This would be very beneficial as I can give further support to my mum and allow me to do food shopping, run errands etc.”
Helen Prince, Head of Development for Young Carers and Families at Carers’ Resource, said: “Young carers have a lot of extra responsibilities and often face challenges in finding the time and funds for their education and training.
“These grants can make a huge difference to young carers and enable them to better reach their potential.”
Carers Trust and The Quilter Foundation have collaborated since 2018, focusing on helping young carers overcome obstacles as they transition into adulthood. A total of 208 young carers have received individual grants so far.
For more information about Carers Trust Quilter Aspirations Fund please visit: https://carers.org/young-carers-action-day-2021/quilter-supporting-young-carers-to-achieve-their-aspirations
For more information about our young carer services please visit: https://youngcarersresource.org/
