New charity record

Cambridge Consultants staff provide record-breaking cash support for local carers

Staff at product design and development firm Cambridge Consultants have set a new record with their charity fundraising efforts. The company has presented a cheque for £28,000 to the Centre 33 Young Carers Project in Cambridge – the result of activities including a monthly cake trolley, marathon runs, sales of bacon butties and regular raffles, with the company matching the cash raised by its staff.

“This will make an amazing difference to lots of local young carers,” said Centre 33 project manager Kate Rees. “We work with over 200 young people who are all providing significant care to a family member. This money will go towards us running groups and providing one-to-one support for those young carers. I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone at Cambridge Consultants for raising such an incredible amount of money.”

Young carers are children and young people under 18 who provide care, assistance or support to another family member who is disabled, physically or mentally ill, or has a substance misuse problem. They carry out, often on a regular basis, significant or substantial caring tasks, taking on a level of responsibility that is inappropriate to their age or development.

Centre 33 provides a range of services for young carers aged 8-18 who live in Cambridge city, South Cambridgeshire and East Cambridgeshire. These include providing someone to talk to, regular group meetings which offer young carers a break, fun activities and new friends, and talking to school staff or other professionals with – or on behalf of – young carers.

Centre 33 was chosen by the employees at Cambridge Consultants as their local ‘charity of the year’ for 2014. Louise James, head of the company’s charity committee, said: “We’ve all enjoyed raising this record amount of money for the Centre 33 Young Carers Project, which provides much-needed support for so many local families. Each year our staff prove even more generous with their time and money to enable us to make a real difference in our community.”