IT'S effectively a 24-hour job for Christine Watson.

Her father, Charles Sanders, is weak and frail with asbestosis, contracted through exposure to asbestos during his career at York Carriageworks. He needs a permanent supply of oxygen.

Her mother, Rhoda, suffers from dementia.

They both need caring for, and that task falls almost entirely on their daughter, who is a widow.

But fortunately Christine gets a regular break from her caring role, thanks to In Safe Hands, a project run by Age Concern York.

Three volunteers, Joan Mills, Eileen Winterbottom and Pat Foster, come to her home on the outskirts of Dunnington at different times for three-hour shifts to look after her parents while she goes out.

And Christine says it makes all the difference, enabling her to cope with the stresses by giving her a chance to visit the shops, go to the hairdressers or perhaps have lunch out, knowing that her parents are in safe hands.

Joan and Eileen are not only delighted to be able to help: they say they also enjoy visiting the Sanders.

Joan, 73, of Elvington, knows all too well what it is like to be a carer. She looked after her own mother until her death in 1996, at the age of 103, and also looked after her husband, a stroke victim and diabetic who died in the same year.

In Safe Hands has been running for about 20 years now. Co-ordinator Monica Dunham says the short-term breaks available also include Night Sitting to ensure carers can get a good night's sleep. In some cases, older relatives go to stay in the home of a volunteer or the volunteer stays in the home of the older person to enable the regular carer to go away on holiday.

Monica says the scheme, the administrative costs of which are met by City of York Council and North Yorkshire Health Author-ity, currently has about 50 volunteers who regularly give breaks to a similar number of carers.

She says they can cope with demand, but that demand is rising and she would like more volunteers to come forward to ensure they do not have to turn requests away.

Monica said volunteers needed three references, including one from their GP, and also common sense, a caring attitude and a sense of humour, and needed to like older people. They were paid expenses and given a token payment for their kindness and inconvenience.

Anyone interested in applying to be a volunteer is asked to telephone Monica on 01904 627995.