For season 2025/26, the Foundation worked with Carers Trust Scotland as its National Charity Partner.

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 to 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 will fund 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 has worked throughout the season to increase awareness of caring roles, highlighting carers’ stories and the challenges they face, as well as signposting carers to support services.

Becky Duff, Director For Scotland, Carers Trust, commented:

“The partnership has provided a brilliant opportunity to raise awareness of unpaid carers and the incredible services that support them locally. We also know how important a break from caring is, and a day at the football can be just that. This partnership has encouraged important conversations about caring, helping to ensure that more unpaid carers can get the support they need and are entitled to, to live fulfilling lives alongside their caring roles.”

Connal Cochrane, Chief Executive at the Foundation commented:

“A huge part of our own work in the community is based around educational opportunities and pathways towards employment for young people. We believe in their potential and want to ensure that young people with caring responsibilities can still achieve their goals in terms of their education and, of course, their longer-term futures.

“We know that many young carers miss out on some of their education as a result of their caring responsibilities, losing on average 23 days of school per year.”

“It was therefore a natural fit for us to sponsor 15 Young Carers Scholarship places at the Education Academy via Carers Trust Scotland and we’ve been delighted to hear about the difference these scholarships have made to the young people we are supporting.”

Find out more about the Carers Trust Scotland HERE.