THE work of North Ayrshire Young Carers has been boosted by the generosity of the audience at this year’s North Ayrshire Sports Awards.

Representatives of the group came along to be presented with a cheque for £602.60, raised by a charity raffle at the successful event at the Waterside Hotel at the end of October.

Commenting afterwards about what the donation would mean to the work carried out by the volunteers and staff, Deborah McLean said: “The donation is massively important to us. It allows us to participate in sporting and other activities that can help improve young people’s lives. 

“Obviously we are a charitable organisation so donations like these can make a real difference. Being carers, the people we help can sometimes become isolated and this money can help improve the standard of are because they can get active and mix with other young people. It can make a big difference to their lives.” 

The group added they would like to thank KA Leisure for the nomination in the first place.

 Covering the whole of North Ayrshire, including the islands, the group works with people aged eight to 25, providing differing levels of support. 

Laura Barrie KA Leisure Business Manager (Physical Activity), said: “We are proud to deliver the North Ayrshire Community Sports Awards in partnership with Ayrshire Weekly Press and North Ayrshire Council and are delighted to support Young Carers across North Ayrshire.”

Caroline Paterson, Group Editor of Ayrshire Weekly Press, who ran the awards event with the support of sponsors North Ayrshire Council, KA Leisure, Sportscotland, Ayrshire College, GlaxoSmithKline and the RAF, said: “We would like to thank everyone who took part in the 2016 event, from nominating people in their community, to coming along on the night and making it such a success.

“This is a wonderful chance to shout out about some of the good news happening in North Ayrshire and we would like to thank our sponsors for helping to make it happen.

“We are glad the generosity of award guests have also benefited this fantastic cause, which does so much to help young people across the area.

“To hear about these young carers and the challenges they face is very humbling, and as a newspaper group we look forward to helping to raise awareness about the wonderful work done by this group.”