They come in all ages, both sexes and all shapes and sizes - they are the largest army in the country and they are unpaid, largely unknown and almost completely unheralded and they all have one thing in common - they are the UK's carers, looking after family and friends who are unable to take proper care of themselves, through long term illness or disability.

But these are not the paid, professional carers I'm talking about here, although far be it from me to say that I have anything but the greatest respect for them, too, working long hours, often inarduous circumstances, visiting several "clients" or "patients" every day and often for the sort of wages that many of us would regard with horror.

No, I'm talking about home carers, people who spend their time looking after elderly or disabled relatives, enabling them to remain in the familiar and comforting circumstances of their own homes and to enjoy at least a measure of dignity, comfort and reassurance.

Like many people, my initial "image" of a home care situation was that of a son, or daughter, looking after a parent, who was more or less bed-ridden and unable to do anything at all for themselves, but whilst I am sure that scenario exists in many households, the overall picture is far more complex.

For instance, it could just as easily be a parent caring for a disabled child, a brother, or sister caring for a sibling, one friend taking care of another, or the neighbour who spends much, or even most of his or her time popping in and out of another neighbour's house, cooking, cleaning, helping them to wash and bathe, dealing with their laundry and so on.

I could fill several pages with differing examples - each case is as unique as it is special, each carer also unique and special - but that would serve little or no purpose.

Suffice it to say that those who are fortunate enough to receive such care do so almost solely due to the sacrifice and dedication of the person or persons providing it and for which they are all duly thankful, without a doubt.

These carers, unpaid, exept for some allowances from government that are not exactly over-generous, perform their daily miracles uncomplaining, but often at a great personal cost, either having had to give up work altogether, or perhaps accepting junior and/or part-time positions, at considerable financial loss to themselves, in order to do what they do.

And, whilst it isn't mainly a question of money, perhaps we should stop for a moment and consider just what they do for US, too.

Yes ... US. The "us" who are more fortunate, enjoy happy, healthy family lives, hold down decent jobs, with decent pay, have regular holidays, over-indulge ourselves at Christmas, and so on.

Oh yes - and pay our taxes.

Because, these unsung heroes and heroines not only provide something for their own families and friends, they supply a service to the state - a service that, if it were not for their eforts, would cost us taxpayers billions of pounds every year.

The exact number of billions does vary, depending upon which version of the statistics, which computation, which "spin" you read, but the lowest I've seen is around four billion. The highest figure is many, many times that and averages out at something close to one thousand pounds per taxpayer!

Staggering, isn't it?

Well, there's a limit to what I can do personally to help, but on discovering what Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Carers do in providing some vital financial support to carers in financial crisis, or in need of just a little occasional respite and relief themselves, I realised that even a small effort might help benefit a few very worthy people - maybe more than a few, in time.

So, I have pledged my own personal support and that of my company, to help Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Carers, both in raising public awareness of the tremendous work they do and in trying to help provide a little more much-needed function.

Every time you buy currency from our branches in Portsmouth and Waterlooville, we will be making a small donation to this excellent charity - yes, it IS a small donation, but then we do get a lot of customers through our doors, so "little and often" is the idea and I am hopeful that in 2008, by this means and by others that we are still working on, we can raise several thousands of pounds that I KNOW will all go where it is really needed - and truly appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and, even if you are not, or never intend to be, one of our foreign currency customers, perhaps you might consider taking out a membership subscription, or perhaps helping with a small donation yourself.

It will be appreciated far more than you can ever, perhaps, realise ...