Sarah Thomas speaking on her life as a volunteer caregiver
The 2010 Evelyn Nicholson Award for International Caregiver is Sarah Thomas from the UK.
Sarah cares for her mother, Carole, who was diagnosed with secondary progressive MS when Sarah was seven. Sarah is also a Committee Member of her local branch and her work in raising the profile of young carers has won her wide recognition in the charity sector.
She was chosen out of a field of 15 candidates from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia and the UK.
Her award monies will go towards a project within her branch; the local Young Carers Project and driving lessons for Sarah.
Sarah was presented with her award at a lunch in London in September 2010 attended by the UK MS Society CEO, Simon Gillespie, and MSIF CEO, Peer Baneke.
The winning nomination from the UK MS Society is below:
Sarah Thomas
Sarah, who was 15 at the time of nomination, was chosen as the UK MS Society's Carer of the Year in 2009, with the judges humbled by Sarah's ability to adopt a 'no fuss' attitude, never acting as though caring is a burden. Sarah has provided exceptional care and support to her mother, helping with household chores; medication, shopping, assisting her mother when walking or using the scooter and fetching and carrying. She also helps to maintain her mother’s psychological wellbeing, for example relieving the stress of memory loss.
Sarah with her UK MS Society Carer of the Year 2009 award
More than that though, Sarah also helps other people with MS at Branch functions, always going that extra mile to ensure everyone feels included and important. She takes an active role within the Branch, and since the age of ten, when she became a Committee Member, she has gained the respect of those around her ensuring that the Young Carers voice is heard and taken into consideration. She is a member of her local Young Carers Project, where her work to raise awareness of the issues facing young carers, and their need for support and recognition was awarded the British Red Cross Humanitarian Citizen Award, the British Red Cross Society Youth Award and the High Sheriffs Award for Young Citizen of the Year (Shropshire).
Sarah made a video when she was 12 years old; about being a Young Carer which she posted on You Tube (Young carers matter too). This video is still shown in schools throughout the UK to raise awareness of young carers.
Sarah, aged 12, with Carole at a UK MS Society charity cricket match
She manages to balance her role as a young carer and all her other voluntary work supporting the wider MS community with her school work and is valued by her teachers and peers because of her maturity and caring manner.
Sarah was interviewed for a recent article published in MS Matters, a monthly UK-wide magazine for people living with MS, where she describes her life as a young carer, saying "When I first started school, I always thought that my mum was the normal one and that the other kid's mums that could walk were weird, so as you can see, it’s always been the norm for me. I was forced to grow up faster than other children. I had to understand things like medication and bills years before other kids even knew what the words meant, which makes me more mature as a person now. I believe that in the future I will have more life experience than other people, having to understand all the different aspects of life so young, which may feel like a bad thing at the time, but sets you up surprisingly well for the real world."
2010 Nominations
The judges of the award would like to express their thanks, admiration and support to all the nominees:
