Oliver Antman, Brogan Hay and Jodi McLeary helped the Foundation announce Carers Trust Scotland as its National Charity Partner for season 2025/26 and met carers at Ibrox Stadium, including several young carers, to hear about their experiences and the challenges they face.

Carers Trust Scotland aims to transform the lives of unpaid carers, working to ensure they have access to the support, advice and resources they need to live fulfilled lives. The charity wants to ensure carers feel heard and valued and has 26 local Carer Centres across Scotland, reaching 66,000 carers annually.

An unpaid carer is anyone who cares, unpaid, for a friend or family member due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction. There are an estimated 800,000 unpaid carers in Scotland, including 30,000 young carers under the age of 18. The value of the care they provide is £15.9 billion per year. Three in five of us will become carers at some stage in our lives, and one in ten of us is already in a caring role.  Yet often carers cannot access the support they need.

The Foundation donated £20,000 for Carers Trust Scotland, with £15,000 paying for 15 scholarships at the Education Academy, providing young carers with some extra help and support to offset the school time they miss owing to their caring responsibilities.

The Young Carers Scholarships were the first of their kind in Scotland and included tuition, wellbeing support and mentoring opportunities to help participants thrive in their studies and beyond.

£5,000 funded a sport zone at the 2026 Scottish Young Carers Festival, where young carers can enjoy some respite, have fun with people their own age who understand about their caring role and get any help and advice they need.

The Festival is Carers Trust Scotland’s flagship annual event, bringing together hundreds of young carers from across Scotland for three days of fun, respite and connection.

The Foundation also increased awareness of caring roles, highlighting carers’ stories and the challenges they face as well as signposting carers to support services.