FACES of Kent has had its work recognised.

It was presented with an award for good practice by the Kent Parent Carer Forum after being nominated by two girls who use its young carers’ support service.

Aiah Smith, 10, cares for her brother Kai, 11, who has autism, while Olivia Crosswell, nine, looks after her mum Kellie who sufferers from multiple sclerosis.

The pair, who both attend South Avenue Junior School, handed the framed certificate to chief executive Sandie Hornby, and young carers’ advisors, Charlotte Stock and David Scoones, during a presentation ceremony at the school.

Also in attendance was Danielle Smith who is the forum’s parent representative for Swale.

Mrs Hornby said: “Receiving the award has boosted pride in our services and makes us even more determined to still be here for the young carers locally in the future.

“Although we received a very generous emergency grant from KCC late last year, unfortunately we are still awaiting results from funding applications that we had hoped to have received by now, so our fundraising efforts are still continuing.

“We are receiving more referrals than ever into our young carers’ service so it’s really important that we are here to support them.We are the only Kent service that works closely with schools helping them to support these youngsters, so it is vital that we are able to continue and build upon this work.

“There are potentially over 3,000 young carers in Swale and we currently support close to 500 of them. Without continued support we will be unable to help them or identify and support more.”

Kent Parent Carer Forum is a network of volunteers, which has children with additional needs and disabilities. It aims to actively involve its members in planning and making decisions about services for young people aged up to 25, who have special educational needs.

To find out more about FACES of Kent’s Swale young carers’ service, visit www.facesofkent.org or call 01795 479475.