A Harrow councillor has been nominated by a local government think tank for an award that recognises her dedication to campaigning for carers.
Labour's Victoria Silver, who represents the Kenton East ward, was nominated last week by the Local Government Information Unit in their Age UK Award category for her involvement in the Harrow Carers Champions project.
The group was established in 2012 to encourage carers to share their experiences and raise awareness of the day to day difficulties carers face.
Miss Silver, who was a carer for her mother, said: “I didn’t know at the time I was a carer, it happened almost without noticing.
"I was 12 years old and as time went by instead of just helping on the odd occasion the demands increased, becoming more of a personal assistant. The hardest thing was asking for help.
“My darkest times were struggling alone."
Miss Silver will be standing down as a councillor in the upcoming council elections in May, giving her more time to dedicate to the Harrow Carers Champions project, and to continue to lobby local authorities for more support.
She said: "Carers are a huge asset to our community, taking on huge burdens often at great personal cost."
Her efforts are now turning to how best to lobby Harrow Council for more support.
"Usually they do not want much, just a chance to talk to someone in the same situation as them, to get a bit of informal help or guidance.
"That is what the Carers Champion project is trying to provide, a network of support that carers can use when they need to, as well as a network to empower carers to speak-up on carer issues and use their experiences to influence the council and help design support solutions."
To find about more about the Carers Champion project, visit www.harrowcarerchampionproject.wordpress.com
