THE work of young carers in the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly and Fife in general was praised this week.

Councillor for Benarty, Lochgelly and Cardenden, Rosemary Liewald, was at the annual general meeting of the Lochgelly based Fife Young Carers organisation and found herself absorbed with the detail of the work carried out by hundreds of young people throughout the Kingdom.

Said Ms Liewald: "I had the pleasure and honour to attend the AMG of Fife Young Carers in St Serf's Church, in Lochgelly, on Thursday and as a new Councillor for Lochgelly, Cardenden and Benarty I am overwhelmed by the work that is done by this group.

"As one of the Youth Representatives with Fife Council I am so looking forward to working closely with them through the years.

"This group and the work that they do is an example of how working together with young people can make a huge difference to their goals, their confidence and their outcomes in life.

"This group shows what a Young Carer, given the correct support, can and do achieve."

She added: "The examples of work exhibited and the testimonials from the young people gives hope and huge encouragement to everyone who attended.

"Fife Young Carers give the opportunity for the children to be just that, and to be themselves for a few hours every fortnight and it’s what they need and deserve. It provides a wonderful, caring and vital resource for those young lives who are so busy caring for their family members ".

A young carer is a child or young person under the age of 18 years, whose life has been affected by their significant caring role for a family member who may suffer from one of the following long term illness, mental ill health, HIV/Physical disability, learning disability, Drug or Alcohol misuse.

Concluded Councillor Liewald: "Being a Young Carer can be very lonely.

"Often, time is so taken up doing tasks that there is no time for friendships. Sometimes when parents have illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, mental health illness or siblings who have a learning disability, it can lead to feelings of isolation. "Young Carers may want to keep these things to themselves for a number of reasons, perhaps being worried about bullying".

Provost Jim Leishman joined Councillor Liewald and Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament for the Cowdenbeath area, Bailey Lee Robb at the agm.