Carers’ Support Ashford is a voluntary organisation and an independent charity managed by Sue Ross with a Board of Trustees.

The organisation was launched in 1994, to support adult carers in the Ashford and Shepway districts and was registered as a charity in 1994. These two large geographical areas have a total population of 200,000. These diverse areas range from the town of Ashford, which plans to expand its population to twice of today’s figures by 2031, to the coastal areas of Folkestone and Hythe and the rural areas of Romney Marsh.

In 1998 the charity expanded its support services to include young carers between the ages of 6-18 years. This service is delivered not only in Ashford and Shepway but also throughout the Dover and Deal areas.

During recent years the charity has developed links with many voluntary organisations, statutory authorities and health and youth services. This partnership working was developed further during 2010 when Carers Support Ashford set up the East Kent Carers Consortium with Carers Support Dover District and Thanet under a memorandum of agreement.

In 2008 Carers Support signed a tenancy agreement on a 25 year lease of Norman House, a modern building on the Beaver Business Park to the south of Ashford town centre. Leasing this property enabled Carers Support to provide high quality accommodation for its own use and to benefit from an income from the upper two floors. Carers Support were successful in subleasing these floors to voluntary organisations and funds were raised to develop the ground floor into office space for the charity.