Kent grandparents who have taken over full-time care of their grandchildren say they are a "cheap option" when it comes to social care.

With many being left to look after children when parents are unable to, they say there is not enough financial support for them - unlike the benefits given to foster carers.

But they are being given a boost with a £25,000 boost to a support group set up to help carers.

Jackie Gennery, 67, from the Isle of Sheppey, has been looking after her three grandchildren for the past nine years.

She said it is the stigma attached to being a carer for grandchildren - as well as the lack of practical and financial help - that makes the job hard.

Mrs Gennery, pictured left, said: "When you’re picking up your child from school and you’re standing in the playground with all the young mums, you feel out of touch with them."

Another grandmother, who did not want to be named, said: "We're the people who've had the children for years, but the parents who've got the problem still have the option to take them back - so we're basically cheap foster parents."

Jackie is part of the Sheppey Family Support Project, which is run by the charity Family Action and works with vulnerable families across Kent.

Kent County Council has given £25,000 to the support group to set up a directory for carers - allowing them to get direct access to necessities such as nappies and cots when a child is placed with them overnight.

The charity has organised four meetings in Edenbridge, Faversham, Sittingbourne and Dartford to get the views of carers.

Project worker Sally Creavin, who works at the Sheerness-based Seashells Centre, said: "It is a very isolating job and when they're first faced with it they think they're the only ones around, but when they meet other carers they can help each other out.

"We're setting up meetings to see what these carers need and want."

For more information about Family Action, visit www.family-action-org.uk.