Our work in Scotland

There are an estimated 800,000 unpaid carers in Scotland and this includes at least 30,000 young carers under the age of 18. The value of unpaid care provided by carers in Scotland is £10,347,400,000 a year. Recent polling - following COVID-19 - indicates that this number may have grown to over a million. Unpaid carers can be of any age from young children to very elderly people.

Carers Trust Scotland partners with our network of local carer organisations to ensure unpaid carers in Scotland have access to support, advice and resources to enable them to live fulfilled lives. We reach around 44,000 adult unpaid carers and young carers from all groups and communities throughout Scotland. 

We are positioned centrally to support local carer organisations to deliver localised action, whilst also influencing the environment for unpaid carers.

We partner with our network of local carer organisations to provide funding and support, deliver innovative and evidence-based programmes and raise awareness and influence policy.​

Carers Trust Scotland is also one of the seven National Carer Organisations (NCOs) in the country. Our combined vision is that Scotland’s unpaid carers will feel valued, included, and supported as equal partners in the provision of care. 

The NCOs seek to represent the views and experiences of unpaid carers by responding to proposed policies, laws, strategies, and regulations and to further unpaid carers’ rights in Scotland.

An unpaid carer is anyone who cares for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction cannot cope without their support. Unpaid carers might care for someone for a few hours each week, or as much as 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Some unpaid carers live with, or near to, the person they are caring for, whereas others provide more remote support. Some unpaid carers look after more than one person.  The support they provide is extremely varied and might include personal care – such as washing and dressing – housework, food shopping and picking up medication and providing company and emotional support.

You can find carer support and replacement care services near you through the Carers Trust UK wide network of partners. Because not every part of the UK is covered by a Carers Trust Network Partner, we also provide links to alternative sources of local support from across the UK.