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YOUNG CARER JAMES, A CHRISTMAS INSPIRATION

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DOCTORS in Carlisle have agreed a package of measures to help support carers in and around the city.

Please click on the link to the News and Star newspaper below to read about new funding from Carlisle's G.Ps to support carers (link can be slow to open - please be patient. It's worth waiting for!)

News and Star

Mulcaster Castle 19th November 2011

A group of young Carers from Carlisle and West Cumbria were invited down to Muncaster Castle on 19th November to be honoured guests of Iona Frost Pennington who is the current High Sheriff of Cumbria. Iona has made Young Carers in Cumbria her charity and is currently embarking on a campaign to raise money for all the carers' organisations in Cumbria for Young Carers. The event on the 19th at Muncaster, where our group and a young carer and a member of West Cumbria Carers team were shown round the owl sanctuary and had a guided tour of the castle with Peter, Iona's husband and Patrick, Iona's father which was amazing. Iona's family have lived at the castle for 800 years and the tour included Peter telling us all about their ghosts and showing us the most haunted parts of the castle. Patrick, Iona's father, gave us a history of all the ancestors which was fascinating. The owl sanctuary was another amazing thing to visit. We got to see the most wonderful owls, even have a close up and picture with an eagle owl. The highlight of the afternoon was watching the feeding of the herons. There has always been a Heronry at Muncaster and after a decline in numbers they started to feed the Herons. It was a truly amazing site to see so many of these solitary birds gathering in the trees and then feeding in the twilight. Even more amazing was the spectacle of the buzzards harassing the herons to make them drop the food. Truly a site we will never forget.

In the evening we were guests for dinner in the great dining room, with a blazing fire and the most wonderful surroundings made for a really special evening. We were all dressed up and were treated like royalty and had the most wonderful time.

In March next year Iona and some of her friends, accompanied by Mike and James, are embarking on a trek in the mountains in Spain following the path of Hannibal to raise more funds. There is even a visit to an elephant sanctuary and Hannibal's castle.

A very big thank you to Iona for all her efforts and to Peter and Patrick for the wonderful day that will live long in our memories.

Iona Frost Pennington, High Sheriff of Cumbria (second from left) and some of our Young Carers