The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Join Fife Young Carers for Land Yachting
Thursday, 27 May 2021
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined Fife Young Carers for a session of land yachting on the famous West Sands beach at St Andrews, hosted by local company Blown Away. The Duke and Duchess heard about the vital support offered by Fife Young Carers, which helps young carers in the local community maintain their physical and mental wellbeing through a range of outdoor activities, workshops, and residential trips.
Most importantly Fife Young Carers offers those involved the opportunity to take some respite from their caring role, have fun, and enjoy spending time with people of their own age. The Duke and Duchess listened to the experiences of the young carers who joined them on the beach, and heard about the challenges they have faced during the pandemic.
The Duke and Duchess also heard about the charity’s work to raise awareness of the role of young carers in the local area. Recently, Fife Young Carers introduced a ‘Young Carers Authorisation Card’ scheme in schools, pharmacies and other medical settings in and around Fife. The card helps young carers easily identify themselves, without having to repeatedly outline their circumstances and personal stories to those in the local community.
A young carer is defined as a child or young person whose life has been affected by looking after a family member with a physical disability, illness addiction or mental health issues. In 2019, 6,785 young people in Fife identified themselves as young carers, equating to approximately 1 in 8 young people in Fife having a caring role at some point in their life. Currently the charity, which has operated since 1995, supports 597 young people, with the figure rising monthly.
The session was hosted by Blown Away, a local company who are the only commercial land yachting company in Scotland, and host sessions in St Andrews and other iconic Scottish locations.
