Warwickshire County Council is supporting Carers Week 2020 and raising awareness of the help available to residents who provide unpaid care to a friend or a loved one.The theme this year is “...
Warwickshire County Council is supporting Carers Week 2020 and raising awareness of the help available to residents who provide unpaid care to a friend or a loved one.
The theme this year is “Making Caring Visible”, something the council strives to do even if people are feeling isolated at the moment. The council is using the week to celebrate carers and reach out to them with information about support services and ways to keep in touch with other people at this difficult time.
Carers are all ages and come from all backgrounds, they could be parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, friends or neighbours. Many people may not realise they are a carer associating the term with someone who is paid to care.
In the last census 2011, 60,000 people said they cared for someone they know. However, the true number of those with a caring responsibility could be much higher. In addition, there are over 4,000 young carers, under the age of 25 who support family members too.
To support carers Warwickshire County Council commissions health, wellbeing and respite services to ensure residents who care remember to look after themselves too. These services are available all year round but Carers Week, a national campaign from Carers UK, provides an opportunity to give the subject of informal care more focus.
Councillor Izzi Seccombe, Leader of Warwickshire County Council said: “Firstly I want to applaud all those unsung heroes who provide care for a loved one or friend. In Warwickshire it’s a priority for us to ensure people stay safe, healthy, and independent and Carers Week is a great opportunity for us to do this.
“The council is working with fantastic partners to provide support and advice to those who need it the most. We have excellent links to specialist advice too, mainly young carers through Warwickshire Young Carers and the Parent Carer Forum - which provides support for Parent Carers.”
To help carers identify their support needs the Warwickshire Carer Wellbeing Service provides a wellbeing check that pinpoints help which would benefit both the carer and the cared for.
In addition, there is also the Carer Response Emergency Support Service or CRESS – which helps provide respite support, should the carer have to take time away to attend a doctor’s appointment or to simply have time to themselves.
Care Companion is a website designed for carers of older people. With access to advice and information, the website also offers useful articles and forms, an address book with details of local support groups, a journal function for carers to record information, and a to-do list to help manage daily tasks.
To access these services and more, residents should go
to www.warwickshire.gov.uk/carersTo find out more about care in Warwickshire and to join in with the conversation during Carers Week 2020, please follow Warwickshire County Council across its Twitter and Facebook accounts, @Warwickshire_CC and Warwickshire County Council, respectively.
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