The Princess Royal Trust Richmond Carers Centre

Key Strategic Organisation - Services for Carers

Richmond Carers Centre and Richmond Crossroads join forces to become the Key Strategic Organisation (KSO) for Services for Carers in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

What is a carer?

A carer is someone who without payment, provides help and support to a friend, neighbour or relative who could not manage otherwise because of frailty, illness or disability.

Most carers would still not recognise themselves under the term ‘carer’. They are just people trying to cope as best they can while helping to look after an elderly relative who has developed Alzheimer’s, a partner with Multiple Sclerosis, or a young child born with Cerebral palsy.

They may even be juggling paid work with their unpaid caring responsibilities at home.

Facts about carers

There are approximately 7 million Carers in the UK.
One is 6 of all adults are carers.
There are approximately 58000 children and young people with caring responsibilities.
There are almost one million Carers who are looking after someone for more that 50 hours per week.
If every Carer stopped caring it would cost the state £57 Billion a year.
33% of Carers say they have not had a break in the last two years.
Three out of five will become a Carer at some time in their lives.
Half of all carers look after someone over the age of 75.

There are approximately 20800 Carers in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, of that there are 1050 Black and Minority Ethnic Carers, approximately 3000 Young Carers and 1950 Carers over the age of 70.

What we do

Richmond Carers Centre helps Carers by providing information, support and advice, opportunities to participate in leisure activities and to have a break, specialist services for Black and Minority Ethnic Carers and Young Carers, support to primary care professionals working with carers, and providing a platform for carers voices to be heard.

Richmond Crossroads service is about giving time – improving the lives of Carers by giving them time to be themselves and have a break from their caring responsibilities. We provide practical support where and when it is most needed, either in the home or through community based projects such as Children’s Saturday clubs and the Caring Café for people effected by dementia.

Our KSO Goals

In our development year (2005/06), we aim to:

• Negotiate partnership arrangements between Richmond Carers Centre and Richmond Crossroads

• Design and develop a local Carers website

• Work with 8 local voluntary sector organisations using the Kings Fund ‘How Good is your service to Carers’ quality assurance tool to review, reflect on and improve services

• Develop a three year improvement plan for KSO activities

We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with Carers and the voluntary and statutory sectors to enhance the lives of carers and their families/people they care for, and continuing to raise awareness and satisfaction of carer needs.

Richmond Crossroads 'Caring for Carers'

Richmond Crossroads Care is a local charity set up in 1987 and affiliated to the Crossroads Association. Its purpose is to provide practical and emotional support in the form of respite to Carers who are responsible for caring for adults including older people and children who have a physical/sensory disability or who are chronically ill.

Services include:

• home based respite breaks.

• Cafe for people affected by dementia.

• two Saturday Clubs for Children with Special Needs.

• Macmillan/Crossroads Palliative Care Service.

Crossroads is Carer led so that the needs of Carers are paramount in the provision of our services. We offer a flexible service to meet the needs of Carers and those they care for.

All Care Support Workers and fully trained and are CRB checked.

Our mission at Richmond Crossroads we are committed to high quality practical support providing home based respite where it is most needed.

Contact: e-mail: richmonduponthames@crossroads.org.uk
Tel: 020 8831 6088