Champion Carer Becky Slater

Jul 13 2008 by Pauline Holt, Sunday Sun

PRESENTING the Champion Carer award, Newspapers in Education chief Kay Thompson spoke of the difficulty in selecting a winner.

She said: “All the nominees are champions to their dependants and were an inspiration to the judges, but for her dedication to her family we chose Becky Slater.”

It was second-time lucky for Becky, 19, who was first shortlisted for the same award last year when we heard how the Young Carers group member helped look after her mum, Lynne, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and her big sister Nicola, 22, who has cerebral palsy.

Since January though Becky, of Penshaw, Sunderland, has taken sole responsibility for her family after her father, the main carer, left the family home.

She does this alongside juggling her full-time job as a nursery assistant with Little Bundles in Murton, County Durham. There were tears from her sister and mum as Becky proudly brought her award back to her table. Lynne, 42, a wheelchair user, said: “I am so, so proud of her.

“I would be totally lost without her. She is our cook, cleaner and our taxi. Nicola needs 24-hour care and when Becky’s at work she phones when she gets there and phones in her breaks to check we’re OK.

“She willingly sacrifices her own social life. For example, this weekend she has a night off and she’s taking us both to the movies to see Mamma Mia.”

But for Becky it’s a labour of love. She said: “I’ve done it since I was born and I just get on with it. I went to school, went to college and nothing stopped me because I love them both to bits. I’m taking them to Florida and Disneyland next year so the prize money will come in handy there.”

Honoured alongside Becky were runners-up Val Hunt, of Redcar, Teesside, who has looked after more than 100 children since she became a foster carer 32 years ago, and Tina Williams, of Stockton, Teesside, who helped found a service for drug users and their families called Bridges after her own son battled heroin addiction.