CARERS who write will highlight carers’ rights on Friday, November 29.

Mid Cheshire authors Jane Butcher and Mike Beddard will sign copies of their books during a craft fair at Cheshire and Warrington Carers Centre, in Northwich.

The event will take place at the London Road centre to mark Carers’ Rights Day, which this year has the theme ‘rights, advice and support’.

The day aims to ensure carers know their rights and can access the good quality advice and support they need to care for their loved ones.

Jane and Mike both use writing within their role as carers.

Winsford author Jane cares for her 23-year-old son Ben, who has down’s syndrome, and started to write as a way of passing the time while he was at a theatre group.

Her book Joel An Unexpected Hero is a story about a girl called Rebecca and her brother Joel, who has down's syndrome.

They find a magic ring of toadstools which transports them to another world where Joel's talents come to the fore and make him a hero.

Jane said: "It’s like The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Harry Potter but has a hero with special needs.

"My son and his mates loved that kind of thing but Ben didn’t have a hero he could relate to, so that’s why I wrote it.”

Leftwich man Mike Beddard is the author of children’s books Lost in the Snow and The Parcel, all about the adventures of the mice of Beauty Bank.

Mike, who cares for his mum, uses his work to spread the caring ethos.

"All my books have the underlying theme of repaying kindnesses shown by others," he said.

“I think it’s very important that children realise it’s nice to help people, you don’t always get rewarded for it but it’s about making someone else smile.”

Carers’ Rights Day is also about helping people realise that they are carers and that the centre is available for them.

Mike said: “We unpaid carers save the government about £22,000 a year.

“But a lot of carers will say ‘I’m not a carer, I’m just looking after my mum’.”

Jayne Carr, community fundraiser for the centre, added: “It’s trying to reach all the thousands of people who care to say that we are here to look after you because you care for all these other people.”

A variety of stalls will be available from 10am to noon on the day, as well as advice about carers’ rights.

For more information about the carers' centre visit carers.org//local-service/cheshire

For more information about Joel An Unexpected Hero visit joelanunexpectedhero.com

For more information about Lost in the Snow and The Parcel visit www.beautybankpublishing.com/beautybankpublishing.com