ADVANTAGE! Barrow Raiders Community Foundation recently hosted a celebration event for Furness young carers, while also being at the heart of St Columba’s Sports day and at The Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium.
For over 25 years Furness Carers have been providing free support and services to all age unpaid carers in the Furness and Ulverston area from five years upwards and our aim is to help unpaid carers maintain their own physical and mental wellbeing whilst caring for family or friends who need help with daily living, so thank you to Advantage! Barrow Raiders Community Foundation for a fantastic Young Carers Fun Day to kick off our Carers Week 2021 events!
The annual Carers Week campaign is to highlight the challenges unpaid carers of all ages face, and recognise the contribution they make to their families and their communities. It also helps people who don’t think of themselves as having caring responsibilities to identify themselves as carers and access much needed support.
The number of carers across the country has increased even more as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic as many people are taking on more caring responsibilities for their relatives and friends who need support with daily living, so this year Carers Week is more important than ever.
The team at Advantage Barrow Raiders Community Foundation will continue to support Furness Carers moving forward, with three sessions planned during the summer holidays and discussion are taking place to schedule a weekly extra-curricular club from September for the Young Carers to take part in rugby and multi sports activities.
Advantage! recently also hosted St Columba’s Sports day and at The Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium.
In a year when many children have missed out on so much, not least sporting opportunities and trips, it is not surprising that Advantage! Community Foundation jumped at the chance when asked to host the annual sports day for St Columba’s school.
Given the size of the stadium, perfect for social distancing, and the experience of the staff hosting large scale events, this allowed St Columba’s to also invite the parents and carers to watch their children compete. The day itself was hot, and the children from Years 3-6 took part in a number of events, including: egg and spoon; sack race; standing long jump; sprints; endurance; seated rugby ball throw; relay; javelin and the obstacle race. Every child performed in every event, allowing them full participation and engagement, and opportunity to score points for their team.
As with all sports days, there was a winning house team, but the children had great fun, expended plenty of energy, and supported their teammates and each other, which was wonderful to see. The turnout of parents and carers was fantastic, with many thanking the school and the team for their efforts and allowing them to watch, as many sports days have been cancelled or parents are unable to watch due to the pandemic. The parents and carers even had the chance to buy food and drinks from Lincoln’s and the Marquee, who brought staff in especially to ensure refreshments were provided.