IF you take your granny to the shops or bring up a child with Down's Syndrome, then you might not realise it, but you are officially a carer.

That is the message which the Durham and Chester-le-Street Carers' Project is desperate to get across to the estimated 15,000 carers in north County Durham.

The group has just launched a new scheme to raise awareness of the work carers do, and who exactly is a carer.

Ailsa Mackay, the project's new GP carer support worker, said: "A lot of people simply don't recognise that they are carers.

"But the stresses and strains of these responsibilities can affect carers adversely, and they are more likely to have physical or mental health problems than non-carers.

"Evidence shows that it's cost effective to support carers because they can prevent patients returning to hospital and often provide long-term care without any support from the NHS, social services or the local community."

The group is distributing leaflets to local surgeries highlighting the role of carers, and Ailsa can be contacted on 0191 3849195.