Kool Carers https://koolcarers.co.uk will now be able to offer even more support to young carers in the Brentwood and the Basildon area with a donation of £12,000 over three years from Essex Freemasons through the Masonic Charitable Foundation.

Kool Carers supports young carers aged 8-18 years, living in Brentwood and the Basildon borough. These young-carers take on many adult responsibilities, miss out on normal childhood experiences and are often afraid to seek help. The charity provides a safe and professional environment for the young-carers to develop friendships with other young people with whom they share an identity, this allows them to feel less isolated, whilst building their resilience and enhancing their individual life skills.

Services include eight fortnightly young-carers groups, which enables 153 young carers to receive support, with games, education and fun tailored activities, to help young carers learn new skills and improve aspirations. The charity provides exciting respite opportunities in addition to offering holistic support for the whole family and they are currently helping 100+ families with parent/carer support groups, including intergenerational yoga, counselling and therapeutic support.

The charity also advocates on behalf of families and young carers with statutory and non statutory organisations, to ensure that the voice of all young carers is heard and respected, whilst ensuring that they receive the support that they not only deserve but are also entitled to.

"The funding that we have received is crucial in allowing us to continue to provide all of our activities and services, which gives young carers a much-needed break and allows them to experience new things, develop themselves and recharge their batteries", said Crystal O'Sullivan (Counsellor & Sessional Support Worker), "and the grant from Essex Freemasons, and MCF, will help us to guarantee this in the next few years. Feedback from our young carers is very positive and they feel that we have helped them to improve their health and wellbeing. With this they are more confident and have gained new skills and knowledge."

Chris Hicks (Essex Provincial Charity Steward) said "The charity's services are needed more than ever and our support for these hardworking carers sits well with our community outreach and support. Needing around £150,000 a year to run the centre the £4,000 per year for the next three years will go a long way to help."