arers
fo r young c
Natural Connections Overnight
Journey
This year 25 junior young
carers from Fife have been
involved in the Natural Con-
nections programme, which
encourages young people to
work together on a variety
of projects to learn about
the environment.
The young carers spent a
weekend at Pitlochry Youth
Hostel as part of the pro-
gramme during the Easter
break. Travelling by train
made it all the more excit-
ing and young carers re-
ceived a ’breakfast bag’ to
keep them going on the
journey.
On arrival at Pitlochry they
were met by Thom, Adam
and Murray — the team
from Lochore Meadows, who
took them for a look at the
famous fish ladder.
As Roy Fife Young Carers
Manager was stranded on
holiday by the volcanic ash
cloud ,Kay, Support Worker
for Central, thankfully
tter
Newsle
stepped in to help out by
travelling to Pitlochry and
helping prepare lunch for
everyone when they re-
turned.
Are we there yet?
There was no rest after
lunch as the young carers
were taken to Killiecrankie
by minibus and told they
were walking back to the
youth hostel ! — a distance
of 3.5 miles — the breath-
taking scenery made the
The stunning views
trip worthwhile!
Well done to all the young
carers — they rose to the
Summer 2010
Inside this issue:
What is MS? 2
Additional 3
Support for
Learning Act
challenge and not only made
it back to the hostel, but
made their own dinner when A fond 3
they got there. Farewell
Everyone enjoyed the hot
chocolate with marshmallows
at supper time and watching
Group Activities 4
the bats before bedtime.
The Lochore Meadows staff
had arranged a shorter walk
the next day and young car-
Young Carers 5
ers also had a small amount
Strategy
of time to look around the
Launched
shops before boarding the
train for home—exhausted!
Thanks to the Rotary Club
who fund the Natural Con- • Do you help
nections programme for us look after
and congratulations to all
someone with
the young carers who took
Multiple
part this year — we’re all
proud of your achievements! Sclerosis? —
not sure what
Young Carers have the last it is?— read
word about the programme:-
our article on
page 2.
“I think the canoeing was
definitely the best bit be-
cause, it was fun and I love
the water” • New Young
Carers
“I also learned to go a bike Strategy for
without stabilisers, that
Scotland—Page
made me feel really good” 5
“I learned that Russian birds
come to the Meadows, that
was a surprise.”
 Multiple Sclerosis - what is it?
Multiple Sclerosis or MS for short, is
a condition that damages the nerves in
the brain and the spinal cord. Nerves
carry messages between the brain and
various parts of the body, through the
spinal cord. For example, if you put
your foot in a very hot bath, nerves in
the skin send messages to the brain
that the water is too hot and the brain
sends a message back to the muscles in
your leg and foot telling them to take
your foot out of the water. Messages
travel very quickly down the nerves as
an electrical current.
What goes wrong in Ms?
Our nerves are protected by a covering
or sheath called myelin, which acts a
bit like the insulating material around
electrical wires. As well as protecting
the nerves, myelin helps to speed the
messages on their way. The body’s im-
mune system is made to protect the
body form outside attackers, such as
germs, but in MS, it attacks the myelin
instead. As the insulation is lost elec-
trical current escapes from the nerve
and the messages may be slowed down
or even be completely blocked.
Symptoms
There are many different symptoms if
MS. Some are ’hidden’ or ’invisible’,
such as pain, extreme tiredness, numb-
ness or problems with memory or sight.
Page 2
Others are more visible such as diffi-
culties with moving or walking, stiff-
ness or speech problems.
The symptoms vary from person to
person, according to where the scar-
ring on the nerves has happened. For
example, damage to the nerve that
goes to the eye can cause problems
with sight—like double or blurry vision.
If the nerves in the spinal cord are
damaged this can cause difficulties
with walking, stiffness and spasms in
the legs.
Symptoms can come and go and can
even change on a daily basis, depending
on different factors such as heat,
mood, stress, tiredness or other illness
such as an infection.
Types of MS
There are different types of MS.
Sometimes it can be difficult to decide
what type of MS a person has.
Relapsing / remitting MS
Most people with MS are diagnosed
with relapsing/remitting MS. There
are times when their symptoms flare
up—known as a relapse, followed with
periods of good or complete recov-
ery—known as a remission. It’s impossi-
ble to know when, or how often , a per-
son will have a relapse.
Benign MS
This term may be used if a person has
had very mild attacks separated by
very long periods with no symptoms.
Progressive MS
With this type of MS, symptoms
gradually get worse—or progress over
a long period of time.
Secondary progressive MS
Many people who are first diagnosed
with relapsing/remitting MS find over
the years that their attacks become
less frequent or stop completely, but
that their symptoms gradually worsen
and their MS becomes progressive (see
description above).
Primary progressive MS
Some people never have relapses and
have a progressive form of MS right
from diagnosis. This is known as pri-
mary progressive MS.
Treatments for MS
There is no cure for MS but there are
treatments.
Some medicines can be used to help
symptoms, for example to help reduce
pain or reduce tiredness.
During a relapse a person with MS may
also be treated with steroids with are
a type of medicine which reduces in-
flammation.
Sometimes people with MS have treat-
ment from a physiotherapist who gives
them exercises to help keep their
joints and muscles working.
Multiple means ‘many’
Sclerosis means ’scarring’ so
the name describes the
many scars found on the
myelin sheath
The Multiple Sclerosis Society sup-
ports people who have MS and their
families. Their website
www.mssociety.org.uk has loads of
information including an interactive
kids and teens page.
MS nurses also support people who
have been diagnosed with MS.
If you would like more information
about MS contact Nina Collins. Info
Worker, Fife Young Carers on 01592
223894 or email
nina@fifeyoungcarers.co.uk
Information from “The young person’s
guide to MS” 2006
Fife Young Carers Newsletter
 Additional Support for Learning Act
What it means for young carers
The Additional Support for Learn-
ing Act was first made law in 2004.
The law was changed slightly in
2009 but the main points of the
Act remained the same — if you
need extra help to get the most
from school then your school must
help you.
What are additional support
needs?
There are lots of reasons that
someone might need some more
help at school. Some of them might
be because they are having diffi-
culty with reading or writing, but it
may be because they are having a
hard time at home, including having
the added responsibility of being a
young carer.
How do I know if I have addi-
tional support needs?
Not everyone who is a young carer
Sadly one of our much valued
workers is leaving us to move
to the Aberdeen area.
Liz McKinstry joined Fife
Young Carers in June 2008 as
a Senior Support Worker for
Cupar and North East Fife.
Following her induction she
quickly settled into her new
role ( she’d previously been a
teacher) and established
valuable links with other
agencies in the area.
She also re-established the
support groups for the area
Summer 2010
Additional support
needs is not the
needs extra support but if you’re
finding it hard to keep up with work same as special
at school then perhaps you need a needs!
helping hand.
What sort of help can I get?
teacher or friend.
The sort of help you would get de- Once your school knows you need
pends on your circumstances, but it help they will put a plan in place to
may mean that you get extra time make sure you get the support you
with a teacher or assistant by your- need.
self or in a group. If you would like more information
You may get a buddy (older pupil who contact Nina, Info Worker Fife
looks out for you in the playground). Young Carers.
It can also mean that you’ll be given
extra time to complete your work.
How do you find out if you
qualify for extra help?
www.enquire.org.uk have lots more
information about additional sup-
port for learning. Their helpline is
The first thing to do if you’re having open Mon to Friday from 9.30 —
a problem is speak to someone you 4.30pm, call them on 0845 123
trust, you can speak to a parent, 2303
A Fond Farewell
themselves.
ensuring that young carers re-
ceived the help and support which
The groups for Cupar & North East
is so important to them.
Fife will continue to run as normal
with Jordana our sessional worker
for the area running the support
groups until a new worker is re-
cruited.
Goodbye and
good luck to
Liz ! We’ll all
Liz said goodbye to some of the
young carers at a BBQ on the miss you
beach — thankfully the weather x
stayed fine and everyone enjoyed
Page 3
 Easter outings Glenrothes & Levenmouth Juniors
Junior groups from both the Glen-
rothes and Levenmouth areas had a
joint Easter outing to the Beveridge
Park in Kirkcaldy this Easter. Some of
the students from the Princes Trust
programme, who helped organize our
Christmas parties, came along too.
When they arrived at the park it was
very cold and windy so they abandoned
and headed for St Brycedale college
instead, where lots of fun was had
decorating Easter eggs, making face
masks and having a fabulous picnic.
Easter outing Glenrothes & Levenmouth Seniors
The seniors' trip was to Mapsie Den in
Falkland. 12 young carers came along
for the day, which was spent enjoying
the breathtaking views of the water-
falls.
It gave the young people the chance to
have a break from their caring roles as
well as getting some exercise and the
Easter activities Cupar and North East Fife
Five juniors from the Cupar group went
to the Sea Life Centre in St Andrews
for their Easter trip this year.
Each person got a quiz to fill in as they
went round the centre, which gave
them interesting facts about the array
of creatures, which included sting ray,
octopus, tropical and fresh water fish.
The juniors also had the chance to
watch the seals being fed.. Unfortu-
nately, one of them had escaped during
high tides the week before so we all
hoped it would be found.
Page 4
There was lots of cheating going on in the egg & spoon race!
After lunch they braved the weather
and headed to the park for egg & spoon
races ( there was lots of cheating go-
ing on!!!) and throwing egg competi-
tions.
Both the young carers and the Princes
Mapsie Den
They had lunch on the top of the
Scores in the Easter sunshine - what a
great way to end the trip.
Ice-skating trip Dundee Ice Arena
Trust students had a fantastic day out
— in fact the students had such a good
time they’ve volunteered to help out
another time!
opportunity to spend time with young
people who understand what it’s like to
be a young carer.
The day was finished off with a trip to
McDonald’s where one of our young
carers was surprised with a lovely
birthday cake complete with candles
to celebrate his birthday.
We awoke to a misty, rainy day so this
was the perfect day to be indoors. Due
to holidays and to illnesses only 2 girls
were able to come to this.
Georgia and Kayleigh thoroughly en-
joyed their skating session and by the
end of the hour were able to skate all
the way round without holding onto the
sides!
We had a picnic lunch afterwards and
enjoyed the conversations on the way
home.
Fife Young Carers Newsletter
 Easter activities Kirkcaldy & West Fife
Both the Kirkcaldy and West Fife
groups met at Ballast Bank community
centre during the Easter break.
For the seniors it was a time to chill out
and enjoy playing pool, air hockey and
getting creative with arts & crafts.
National Young Carers Strategy Launched
Public Health Minister Shona
Robison launched ‘The Carers
and Young Carers Strategy’ on
the 26th of July at Lanark-
shire Carers Centre.
It contains a separate docu-
ment ‘Getting it right for
Young Carers’ which outlines
what the Government, working
with Local Authorities will do
to support young carers
throughout Scotland.
The main aims of the document
are to:
• Identify hidden young
carers who are receiv-
ing no support.
Stop press.......stop press........stop press
On the eve of the Scottish
Young Carers Festival 2010
the Government has an-
nounced that it will be
funding the festival again
next year.
Summer 2010
The juniors were put into teams and
had to design a parachute and cradle rated with thread and foil.
to hold an egg, the cradle was to be
strong enough to protect the egg from
breaking when thrown off the chute at
the park! There were 3 teams, “No
Crackers”, “ Egg Survivors” & “Not a
Clue”
Preparing the parachute
• Assess young carers’
needs.
• Support young carers, at
school, home and in the
community.
• Ensure young adult car-
ers have access to train-
ing opportunities.
On launching the Strategy Ms
Robison said:
"Carers of all ages make a huge
contribution to their families
and to society. Their efforts
help their loved ones to continue
living independently - and their
The festival will be taking
place at Broomlee Outdoor
Education Centre at West
Linton and will be a mixture
of fun activities and consul-
tation opportunity for young
The cradles were beautifully deco-
Watch out below!
There was great suspense and gasps as
the eggs were parachuted to the
ground. “ No Crackers” won (their egg
wasn’t cracked lol!)
contribution as
unpaid workers
to health and
social care is worth an esti-
mated £7.68 billion a year.
FYC will be producing a leaf-
let for young carers to ex-
plain what the strategy
means for them.
There is also 2consultation
meetings arranged for the
11th October at Fife House
in Glenrothes. Contact Car-
ers Centre on 01592
642999 for further details.
For the full strategy see
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/
carers from all over Scotland.
See the next issue for details
of this years festival antics
(we’ll be the ones in the cowboy
hats!)
Page 5
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