THE Princess Royal Trust has appointed Sharon MacKenzie (35), from St Helens, as their new development manager for the North West.

Her role will be to form partnerships in the statutory, voluntary and business sector and develop new funding opportunities and initiatives to support carers and those working with them in the region.

Having had first hand experience working with carers, Sharon went on to develop services and help to establish two centres in the North West, both of which are members of The Princess Royal Trust for Carers network.

Valuable asset

Regional manager Carole Cochrane said: "Sharon's background and experience will be a valuable asset to the support system for the 20 existing Carers' Centres in the North West and the development of new centres over the coming years."

Her appointment comes at a key time when there are around 700,000 carers providing unpaid support to a relative or friend in the North West and, according to a new survey there could be at least 685,000 more within the next 10 years.