BRITAIN'S humble brigade of carers is estimated to be saving the public purse a staggering £87 billion a year.

That would be the cost of the state taking over their voluntary role of looking after their loved-ones.

Be they parents, children, partners or even next-door neighbours, they are often taken for granted – but if they buckle under the pressure, who cares for the carers?

Well in Stoke-on-Trent it is a handful of social workers who bring help to around 150 to 200 carers a year.

They specialise in harnessing all kinds of support for people left looking after those with a mental health problem.

The team was formed in 2002 with just two workers as part of a national initiative to improve care for the mentally ill.

But as word has got round among professionals that carers can need caring for too, demand has grown and five woman now make up the group.

Carers often feel isolated as they try and struggle to do their best for their loved-ones. That's where the team comes in to act as a lifeline for them.

And it has won the group a nomination for the NHS category of The Sentinel's Our Heroes awards. Their name was put forward by Marion Tomkinson, from Hartshill, who looks after her 30-year-old son, Paul, who has a mental health problem.

She said: "Each member plays a vital role to make sure this service is invaluable for hundreds of carers so I have nominated them all. Being a carer for someone with a physical illness or disability is hard enough and nothing prepares you for it. But when a mental health condition is involved, it brings its own set of challenges, particularly as there is still a stigma about it.

"I just don't know how I would manage without their 24/7 support and wonder how ever I coped before they started helping me in 2002.

"It can be for anything from respite, helping with benefits or adaptations to the house to the regular drop-in sessions I go to in Phoenix House, Tunstall, for a break, which we all look forward to so much.

"They even arrange for us to have days out and recently we had a great day at Trentham Gardens."

The team is made up of Jayne Aston, Rachel Wooliscroft, Rubina Damani, Debbie Faulkner and Sue Rushton, who are based in Dyke Street, Hanley.

They were formerly employed by the city council social services department but have now transferred to NHS mental health trust Combined Healthcare.

Team founder member and senior practitioner Jayne said: "I have been a social worker for 25 years and leapt at the chance of moving to this role.

"It was great that we were starting from scratch and so there were no preconceptions. We were finding that some professionals took carers a bit for granted and did not realise what a vital role they were playing. But that has slowly changed and we now get referrals from those same people.

"We have supported people we have found to be very isolated and on the point of cracking. Society owes a huge debt to carers who make sacrifices in their own lives without complaining or seeking reward."

Some carers helped by the team have now formed an "active carers' forum" which is consulted by decision-makers when planning new or changed services.