Lord Lieutenant Lauches DISC Horizons Project

A half million pound, Big Lottery-funded project aimed at helping young people who carry out caring duties for relatives in County Durham and Darlington has been launched by The Lord Lieutenant of County Durham.
The £492,221 Horizon Young Adult Carers Service is a new service designed to support young adult carers aged 14-25 who live in County Durham and Darlington. The Service is delivered by local charity DISC in association with Consett YMCA and the Cornforth Partnership.
The main aims of the service are to provide young carers with access to community based support services, to improve confidence amongst young carers, promote wellbeing and increase the aspirations of young carers to allow them to realise their full potential.
The Lord Lieutenant of County Durham, Mrs Sue Snowdon, said:” “Horizon is absolutely the name for this project. It’s innovative and ground breaking, because its primary objective is to give young adult carers every opportunity, every assistance to expand their horizons, to reach their full potential”.
The service will complete comprehensive assessments to identify and meet the individual support needs of young carers accessing the service.
As well as support for individual carers through a dedicated helpline open between 10am – 9pm Monday to Friday, the service will also engage with families of young carers to allow access to support groups and family activities. The programme will also work with up to 70 County Durham and Darlington agencies to increase their understanding of issues surrounding young carers and to improve their interaction with young carers.
Paul Townsley, Chief Executive of DISC, said: “We’re delighted to launch this new service for the Young Carers of County Durham and Darlington. By working with The Cornforth Partnership and Consett YMCA, we’re really looking forward to ensuring that young carers and their families receive the support they deserve, allowing them to increase their independence and improve access to vital services.”
The £492,221 funding for the three year project was provided by The Big Lottery. DISC already has significant experience of project delivery in this field, having already delivered the Horizon Young Adult Carers service across County Durham. DISC also currently deliver Darlington Young Carers Service which provides a valuable service to Young Carers across Darlington.