Caithness Klics gets £98,726 from National Lottery for work with young carers
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A Caithness charity has been awarded almost £100,000 from the National Lottery to continue providing support to young carers.
Wendy Thain, project manager of Wick-based Caithness Klics, said the award had come as a "huge relief" after the uncertainty created by the pandemic.
Caithness Klics received £98,726 towards a three-year project that will deliver one-to-one support, group sessions, activities and respite breaks for carers aged five to 18. More than 100 young people are on its books at present.
Ms Thain said: “Through the Covid-19 months a lot of funding was put on hold, which meant uncertain times for the project – so this National Lottery award has come as a huge relief to us, followed by pure excitement.
"The funding means we can continue to support young carers in Caithness so that they can continue to have a break from their caring role and a safe space to come to when they need to.
"We've got 112 on our books just now and we've tried to reach out to all of them over Covid. We've never stopped. We just worked the whole way through it.
"We were out doing some garden visits and meeting some of the kids face-to-face, with social distancing. We couldn't leave them – they needed us more than ever. In fact we were probably 24/7, to be honest."
The impact of the pandemic meant that Klics' staff of eight had to be reduced to two – Ms Thain and fieldworker Denise MacLeod.
"We carried it for three or four months ourselves," Ms Thain explained. "The other staff were furloughed."
Some were able to return after the school summer holidays and there is now a team of five.
Caithness Klics was set up in 2013 and is based at the former Wick South Primary School.
It is one of six community groups in the Highlands receiving £146,430 between them from the National Lottery Community Fund.
Home-Start Caithness is also benefiting, with an award of £9803 to employ an additional family support worker in the county.
Other projects in the Highlands to receive funding include a youth work initiative in the Fort William area, a scheme to purchase a hospital transport vehicle for the Gairloch community and a food service for homeless and vulnerable people in Inverness.
Across Scotland as a whole, 161 projects are sharing in £3,931,314 for a range of activities, many of which will provide support through the Covid-19 crisis and beyond.
The National Lottery Community Fund’s Scotland chairperson, Kate Still, said: “At the end of what has been a very difficult year for everyone, I am delighted that groups in the Highlands have some celebratory news to end 2020.
"They are all working so hard to ensure their communities thrive during these difficult times and, thanks to National Lottery players, they can continue their amazing work.”
National Lottery players raise £30 million every week for good causes in the UK.
The National Lottery Community Fund in Scotland is focusing its funding on projects that support organisations and communities in responding to Covid-19.
