Children's charity Barnardo's Cymru is next week celebrating Share the Care week which recognises the enormous difference that short-break carers make in the lives of disabled children in the county. Barnardo's runs the Pembrokeshire Family Links scheme which links disabled children and teenagers to another family in the community. The scheme gives disabled children a chance to make friends outside the family, while it gives mums and dads the chance to recharge their batteries or focus on other children in the family. Barnardo's manager Deirdre Connell said: "We have been running this scheme in Pembrokeshire now for more than 22 years and our link carers always tell us that they get as much out of the scheme as they put into it. "The scheme is very flexible and suits those who can spare enough time to have a child for one overnight stay a week." The scheme has more than 12 link carers at the moment and another three who are going through the assessment and training process, but they are always keen to recruit more from right across the county." Deirdre added: "Short break carers go through the same assessment process as foster carers and full training is given to those going forward. We are looking for a wide variety of people from families to couples or single people - anyone with some time to spare. Experience of being with disabled children is helpful, but a caring attitude and a love of children are essential. "We work in partnership with Pembrokeshire County Council and we know that there are always children waiting for this service. The more carers who come forward, the more disabled children and families we can help." For further information about becoming a short break carer, call Barnardo's Cymru Pembrokeshire Links on 01646 687064.
