The Princess Royal Trust Highland Carers’ Project has put together an exhibition of photographs of carers with Fin Macrae, the highly regarded local photographer who has exhibited at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and The Victoria and Albert in London. The exhibition will be opened by Maureen Macmillan MSP at Strathpeffer Community Centre on Carers’ Rights Day, Friday 2nd December, at 12noon.

The exhibition features photographs of carers of all ages and all situations from all over Highland and celebrates, in a novel and unusual way, their individual ways of dealing with their caring responsibilities. These are not pictures of people pushing wheelchairs or handing out pills – it is an exhibition which challenges stereotypes and encapsulates the personality of individuals who are carers, but are also mothers, brothers, sisters and friends.

Fin Macrae says: ‘The brief for this project was quite loose but I was keen to show something of the individuals who participated in this project. There are 16 separate images as it became clear that although carers may be labelled as caring in a specific situation, no two sets of circumstances are the same. Being a carer is something you do and not necessarily something you are – it doesn’t define you. These photographs are just a glimpse of the way I perceived them.’

The exhibition is the last of a series of events held this year to celebrate Highland Carers’ Project’s tenth anniversary and the contribution that carers make to the community.

Pauline Kimantas, manager of Highland Carers Project says: ‘The portrait exhibition is a new and refreshing way of both celebrating and raising awareness of carers. I’m sure the images will interest and stimulate people to think about what caring means. I hope that, as a result of the exhibition, some people will realise that they or someone they know is a carer and that caring is a normal part of life that affects most of us.’

Highland Carers Project was established in August 1995 to make immediate and lasting improvements to the quality of life of carers in the Highlands. The Carers Project has worked both at local level with statutory authorities and voluntary and community groups and at national level with the Scottish Executive to develop ways of making services available to carers. In September this year, the Scottish Executive launched its groundbreaking report into the future provision of services for carers, Care 21.

A carer is someone who, without payment, provides help and support to a friend, neighbour or relative who could not manage otherwise because of frailty, illness or disability. The Census 2001 estimated that there are 18,500 carers in the Highlands but the Carers Project believes that the Census underestimates the true figure. Their own research suggests that there are nearly 5000 young carers in the Highlands.

Elaine McGonigle, Director in Scotland of The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, says: ‘This exhibition is a real opportunity to lift the lid on perceptions of carers. As Fin correctly states, caring is something that many people do but that is not the limit of who they are. We need to be able to see carers as a whole person - the Trust believes that this is crucial in understanding that caring can and does affect everyone at any point in their life. This exhibition is a remarkable and very striking way of demonstrating that to everyone.’

The exhibition remains on view in Strathpeffer Community Centre, Strathpeffer, IV14 9AG until Christmas and will travel to every part of Highland from January until March 2006, opening at the Eastgate Centre in Inverness.

The Princess Royal Trust Highland Carers Project is managed by Highland Community Care Forum. The Carers Project provides information, advice and practical support to carers of all ages all over the Highlands and is based at Highland House, 20 Longman Road, Inverness. They can be contacted on 01 463 718 817 or by email at carers@hccf.org.uk