I WARMLY welcome the Gazette's 'Give them a break' campaign. As well as its own merits, the campaign highlights the commitment that so many people in our country make to look after loved ones and friends.

It is a growing number of people and with an ageing population is certain to increase substantially in the years ahead.

The campaign has rightly focused on the sacrifices that carers make, especially in relation to career and pension arrangements.

Many carers gladly give up their jobs to concentrate on caring, but the system badly lets people down when they have to return to the workplace.

The private, public and third sectors seem unable to take caring experience into account and discriminate against people who are deemed to have taken a voluntary gap in their careers.

I would like to see the Department for Work and Pensions take a much more proactive role in ensuring that employers understand that caring, far from being an employment gap, is a further example of experience which can prove so important in so many areas of work.

The idea that some application forms are tossed aside because ex carers are considered unemployed is deeply distressing.

I would advise that former carers add their caring experience within the job category in their cvs and on application forms and highlight the positives in interviews. Vocational training of managers within all employment sectors, possibly led by ex carers, would be be an important start in ensuring that people, having made a strong personal commitment can enjoy a smooth transition to the workplace again.

John A. Bateson

Oxenholme