Cornwall Council Chairman John Wood has chosen an organisation which supports the thousands of young people in Cornwall who care for others as his official charity.

While there are currently 588 known carers in Cornwall, Census statistics suggests that the true figure is nearer to 4,000 with 1,217 young people aged under 15 providing unpaid care, and a further 2,682 aged 16 to 24. Many young carers do not come forward as they see nothing unusual about their role and its part in their family life.

Announcing that he had chosen Cornwall Young Carers as his official charity John Wood said that it was vital to support these young people who do so much for others.

“Research shows than one in 12 young carers are caring for someone for more than 15 hours a week, with one in 20 missing school because of their caring responsibilities” said John.

“Cornwall Young Carers supports these young people who are helping others and I want people in Cornwall to get behind the charity so we can help raise money to support the learning and achievement of our young carers.”

A small group of staff have joined with some of Cornwall’s young carers to set up a fund raising group which will be organising a series of events and activities over the next few months. All the money raised by the group will be administered by young carers for young carers on behalf of the charity.

The first event is a car wash day in the main car park at New County Hall,Truro on Tuesday, October 28, which is being sponsored by Dales Cars.

The car washing will take place between 10 am and 4pm, with a minimum donation of £5 per car.

The Fire Service will be supplying the water for the car wash, with officers from Truro Fire Station helping to wash cars for an hour during the day.

Other events which are being planned include a donation raffle on 25 November; a best dressed office competition in December; an online cryptic quiz being staged during January; a black and gold day in February when staff and members will pay £1 to wear the Cornish colours for the day; a “Goodwill” bank event in March where staff and Members can donate skills or some time which others can then “purchase”; a cake and bake sale in April and a sponsored bike ride along cycle trails across Cornwall during the May half term.