Making caring visible, valued and supported – that’s the theme of this year’s Carers Week, which runs from June 6 – 12.
Carers UK today releases a report calling on the government to take urgent action to address the rising pressures that unpaid carers are facing, including to their mental health.
The seven charities (Carers UK, Age UK, Carers Trust, MND Association, Rethink Mental Illness, Oxfam GB and The Lewy Body Society) want the government to develop a Recovery and Respite Plan dedicated to the needs of carers, including specific investment in their mental health support, prioritising carer’s leave, boosting carer’s incomes to reduce the risk of poverty and hardship, help with food and energy costs and, ahead of the winter, prioritisation in the vaccination programme. Read the report here
Carers Hub Lambeth new video
Carers will be the focus of this week’s Collaborative Breakfast, held fortnightly on zoom with Carers Hub Lambeth on the menu. Today the Hub shares a short video about the wellbeing projects it ran for carers over the winter and spring, funded via the Better Mental Health fund. Link here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C9UvfODThg
Meanwhile check out its updated animation about the Lambeth Carers Card, which highlights discounts for carers at participating local businesses
is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZT_VpJzZO0
More info here on what’s happening this week – https://www.carershub.org.uk/carers-week-2022
Read here about the work of local social enterprise Carers4carers
2022 Strategy Refresh
All the work above has been shaped by the Lambeth Carers Strategy, which is being refreshed over 2022. The landscape affecting carers has significantly changed since the Strategy was first developed in 2017, including a rise in the number of people caring and as highlighted above, the fallout of the Covid 19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis. Lambeth wants to address these new challenges and will be inviting local carers, community members and professionals to share their views, insights and ideas to help make a difference together.
If you would like to be kept in the loop with progress on the Strategy Refresh and opportunities to get involved please contact the Carers Strategy Development Manager at Carers’ Hub Lambeth on connect@carershub.org.uk or 020 7501 8973.
Your views
Click on link below to read more and take part in a survey on what support carers find most useful, current challenges they may be facing, and their ideas for what could be done differently in Lambeth.
https://beta.lambeth.gov.uk/adult-social-care-and-health/carers/lambeth-carers-strategy
www.lambeth.gov.uk/carers-strategy
Karen Hooper