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Five charities that provide support to carers in the community will benefit from the money raised at next year’s Lions Club of Jersey Swimarathon.
Grace Crocker Family Support Foundation, Headway Jersey, Jersey Association of Carers, Jersey Child Care Trust and MIND Jersey will each receive up to £10,000 from the fundraising total to deliver support services to carers.
The money will help the charities fund a wide range of actions. The Grace Crocker Foundation said that it will enable them to pay for a Key Liaison Manager, who will act as the primary point of contact for all families who have to go off the island with sick children.
The funds will also help Headway hire a person to be a specific point of contact for the families of the brain injured at Headway. At the Association of Carers, they will be used to deliver events and activities to provide respite to carers, with a particular focus on young ones.
£10,000 will help the Child Care Trust support four children for a year through their Special Needs Inclusion Project. Last year, JCCT supported the care of 37 children in 18 different nurseries for a total of 7,500 hours. Finally, the donation will help Mind fund Mindfulness and Mental Health First Aid training of up to 50 carers.
Other moneys raised by the Swimarathon will go to providing respite holidays for up to 60 local people, through Maison des Landes, as well as a diverse range of local good causes throughout the rest of the year.
Pictured: The Swimarathon raised over £130,000.
Lion Ian Barette, President of the Lions Club of Jersey said: "Since the Swimarathon’s inception, the Lions Club of Jersey Swimarathon has raised over £3.3million to help those in need. Earlier this year, we learnt from one of this year’s beneficiaries, the Jersey Association of Carers, that 1 in 10 of all island households have someone acting as a carer. This figure really resonated with us and we therefore decided to support these charities to highlight the important role that carers play in our community."
Ray Cooper, Chief Executive Officer, from Headway Jersey, said: "We’re extremely pleased to be one of the main beneficiaries for the 2018 Swimarathon. The charity supports around 150 survivors of brain injury in Jersey but a lot of time goes to helping the carers who have also had their lives changed immensely. Headway will be expanding its Family and Carers Support Service to include a dedicated person to support the family and other carers. We will invest the funds received from the Jersey Swimarathon to support this invaluable service."
Tim Houghton, Managing Director of Market Partnerships at RBC Wealth Management said: "Frequently, the role of the carer in a household gets overlooked and they are often the unsung heroes of our community. Many of these carers are indeed young people, a key focus area for our organisation. We are therefore delighted to place the spotlight on the amazing contribution carers of so many diverse circumstances make and I hope as many islanders as possible get behind the cause of ‘caring for the carers’ at next year’s big swim."
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