Kings Camps offers respite to young carers
The Robertson Trust and Carers Trust Scotland join forces with Kings Camps to provide funded places for young carers
There are approximately 44,000 young carers in Scotland who provide care to parents, siblings or other relatives, and thanks to our charity partnership, we’re able to provide carers with a week of fun, activity and encouragement.
We’ve been able to provide fully funded places so carers can attend one or more weeks at Kings Camps – our world-renowned sports and activity camps. The programme provides carers with valuable respite, enabling them to be children, make new friends and have fun in a positive, active environment.
The project has been funded by The Robertson Trust, Scotland’s largest independent funder. Their mission is to improve the quality of life and realise the potential of Scotland’s people and communities.
Studies have shown that young carers experience less time enjoying childhood, have difficulty making friends, find it difficult to focus on their education and are more likely to experience poor mental health through childhood and in later life.
To identify young carers, we work with the Carers Trust Scotland, a charity dedicated to improving support, services and recognition for unpaid carers. When a child attends Kings Camps, we ensure a fully-trained and qualified volunteer is in place to take over their care responsibilities, so the young carer’s experience on camp is maximised.
To date, young carers have attended Kings Camps in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Helensburgh, Stirling and Dundee. The outcomes of the programme are very encouraging, with 100% of young carers stating they made new friends, 80% stating they gained confidence and 50% stating they learnt a new skill that they will utilise in their daily lives.
Richard Holmes, CEO of Kings Active Foundation adds, “Our mission is to get children active, having fun and learning together, so it’s our absolute privilege to do so for children and young people that have significant responsibilities.”
To find out more about our young carers programme, please contact Andrew Busby at enquiries@kingsactive.com.
