Carers were thanked for their work at the Carer and Young Carer of the Year awards.

More than 30 nominated carers and young carers attended a ceremony at Bruce Castle Museum on Wednesday.

The awards, which celebrate undervalued work of unpaid carers, were presented by Councillor Kaushika Amin, the Mayor of Haringey, who acknowledged “heartrending and moving stories in all of the nominations.”

Winner of the Carer of the Year Award, Annette Brown, was nominated by her sons Tyreke, Raiquan & Andre Blackstock who described Annette’s dedication in caring for their grandmother.

They said: “Our mum looks after our grandmother. She has been doing this for about 10 years. She never complains and has given up her own personal life to be available for our gran.”  

After collecting her award Annette said: “It’s an amazing feeling. I feel truly honoured and blessed. I think there needs to be more events for carers where we can come together and support each other as we go through a whole lot that nobody sees.”

Tiana Chung-Taylor, from Tottenham, won the Young Carer of the Year Award. She was nominated by her mother Denise Chung who said:

“Tiana is 14 years old and she helps me look after her younger sister and myself. I have Lupus SLE and I had a kidney transplant in 2009.

"One of her younger sisters Nya has cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus. Since I had the transplant Tiana has been helping me to take care of her sisters. She gets up at 5.30 every morning to help me get them ready.”

Tiana, aged 14, said: “Today has felt really good, it was a surprise to win the award as I thought I was just going to be collecting a certificate".

An Outstanding Achievement Award was also presented to 23 year old Teriy Keys whose work with young people and ex-offenders was judged to be a form of caring and mentoring combined.

He said: “Days like today make me feel like I want to continue doing what I do in the community. It’s a small sense of achievement, but it helps keep me motivated”.

The awards were jointly-presented by Cllr Peter Morton, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing who said: “It’s been a real privilege to meet and congratulate so many of Haringey’s carers and young carers. These are inspiring people, who carry out important work with great devotion and striking humility.
 

"It was also great to see representatives from Age UK and the council’s housebound service in attendance who do a fantastic job helping to make sure Haringey’s carers feel supported in their important work.” 

All nominees received a signed certificate from the Mayor acknowledging and thanking them for their work.