A TROWBRIDGE mother who has spent the last four years looking after her ill husband is determined to help fellow carers get the help they need to make their lives easier.

Alison Lawford, 33, of Queens Club Gardens, has been a full time carer since 2000 and knows all about the stresses and strains the role can cause.

Ever since she started looking after her husband, John, 37, who suffers from MS, she has received help from the Carers' Support West Wilts group and is now on the management committee with the aim of helping other carers.

Six million people in the UK care for a relative, friend, partner or child with an illness or disability but Mrs Lawford believes many of them are unaware the support group has been set up to help.

She said: "I think there are about 1,500 people registered with the support group in West Wilts yet it is estimated there are over 10,000 carers in the area.

"There are still a lot of people who are not known to us and we want to change this. They need help just as much as the person they are caring for.

"For a lot of carers, because they are caring for someone they love they don't actually consider themselves to be carers."

The support group offers a range of services including the chance for the carer to have a break, a friend to talk to and help in filling out forms for benefits.

This week has been national carers' week with its theme being the health of the carers and the support group has been using it as an opportunity to spread their word.

Mrs Lawford said: "The carers' support group is a great help. It provides friendship, networking and organises social events.

"I enjoy being on the management committee because I feel I can make a difference and get a carer's viewpoint put forward when the professionals are planning services. I aim to ensure they produce material for carers which is in layman's language and easily understandable.

"As well as looking after John, we have two young sons, James, nine, and George, seven, and it is very tiring. Without help the role can be very hard and our aim is to give the carers a release."

Brenda Duffy, 55, of Whiteland Rise, Westbury, who cared for her 89-year-old mother until she died a few months ago, said the support group was a great help.

She said: "Before joining I felt alone in the world and then I discovered there were others experiencing the same difficulties and frustrations. Now my mum has died I still go along and so do other carers who have lost their loved ones. It is helping me get over the bereavement."