Staff from Thomas Cook have visited a Walmer primary to learn about a scheme the school has gained acclaim for – how they care for young carers.

It comes as part of a special funding partnership between Thomas Cook Children’s Charity and Carer’s Trust.

To launch it, the holiday firm’s staff went to The Downs Primary, which achieved a Gold Young Carers in Schools Award to hear about the work they’ve done.

The Young Carers in Schools programme is a free, England-wide programme that makes it as easy as possible for schools to support young carers, and awards good practice.

To date the programme has engaged more than 700 education providers, gained over 10,000 unique views of the online resources, awarded 140 schools for their good practice and reached an estimated 1,250 sector professionals.

Thomas Cook Children’s Charity chairman Jamie Queen said: “We work to improve the lives of children and young people in the UK and overseas.

“Supporting young carers and their families is an area of huge importance in the UK. We’re delighted to contribute, thanks to donations from Thomas Cook customers and employees.

“We are excited to support Carers Trust’s young carer’s grants programme as well as their young carer’s in schools programme, helping to reach some of the 175,000 young carers in the UK.”

Giles Meyer, chief executive of Carers Trust, added: “There are more than 700,000 young carers in the UK, some as young as five.

“We know that young carers are more likely to fall behind at school, be bullied and get lower exam grades. The impact of caring from such a young age can be enormous.

“We also know that many young carers remain hidden and so they just don’t get the support that is available to them.

Our partnership with Thomas Cook Children’s Charity will help us reach more of these young carers and support them through our Young Carers in Schools Programme, run jointly by Carers Trust and The Children’s Society.

“The partnership will also help fund our young carers grants programme which will enable young carers to enjoy activities aimed at raising their aspirations, self-confidence and self-esteem whilst taking time away from their caring responsibilities.”