JIG-So Children’s Centre in Cardigan has launched a new support group for families in the area.

The Kinship Carers’ Group has been set up with funding from Caring Communities.

Kinship care is when a child lives full-time or most of the time with a relative or friend who is not their parent, usually because their parents are not able to care for them.

That relative or friend is called a 'kinship carer', and it is estimated that around 60 per cent of kinship carers are grandparents, but many other relatives including older siblings, aunts, uncles, as well as family friends and neighbours can also be kinship carers.

Kinship care includes children who may be:

living in an informal arrangement made by their parents

'looked after' by the local authority and placed with kinship foster carers

on a Child Arrangements Order or Special Guardianship Order .

Kinship carers are also often referred to as 'family and friends carers' or 'connected people' by local authorities and in official documents.

Jig-So’s Linda Grace said: “It is a privilege to support individuals who support children in this way.”

The launch was supported with representatives from health and volunteer organisations and social services. Also present was Deborah Smith, who is the Kinship Carers development officer from Children in Wales and funded by the Welsh Government.

Jig-So's Group is the 16th such group established in Wales and sessions will be held at its Pwllhai base every Friday from 11am-1pm, starting on Friday, February 2.

Cllr Catrin Miles, Ceredigion County Council’s cabinet member for Learning Services, Flying Start and Team Around the Family, said: “We are lucky to have such an organisation in town helping to bolster the statutory services, which are coming under so much financial pressure.

“The change to universal credit is a big worry for many of us and we are glad to have such a strong partnership between Jig-So and Ceredigion County Council to help children and their families reach their full potential. It is so important to have these facilities on our doorstep.”