The Strong Vulnerable
Posted by Suzette
Give Carers a Break campaign launches
The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and Crossroads Care, have launched a new campaign called “Give Carers a Break.” The campaign aims at calling for PCTs to use their allocated government funds for carers breaks.
In November 2010 the Government announced that £400m would be made available to Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to pay for breaks for adult and young carers. The announcement was welcomed by all carers and carers organisations, but there were concerns that the PCTs could use the funding for other purposes as the money is not “ring-fenced.”
Liz Fenton, Chief Executive, The Princess Royal Trust for Carers said, “The aim of this campaign is to ensure that every PCT spends as much of the allocated budget as possible supporting carers and that they publish their plans and budgets by October 2011 as required in the strategy to achieve the best outcome for carers. Carers make a significant contribution to our society and it is in everyone’s interest that they are supported in order to continue to care safely and in good health.”
We are asking carers and carers’ organisations throughout the country to highlight the local issues and work positively with PCTs and local authorities to achieve the best outcome for carers. At the same time, the campaign is calling for MPs to support the campaign in their areas.
Anne Roberts, Chief Executive, Crossroads Care said “Breaks from their caring role make a huge difference in helping carers to continue – it is not a luxury – for a carer it is essential to their well-being and ability to carry on. And, if they are unable to carry on caring, there will potentially be enormous care costs, which will add to the burden for the taxpayer.”
Breaks for carers are not just things which are nice to have. They are vital for carers’ health and wellbeing, and for helping to continue with their caring roles. In a recent Government consultation, breaks were one of the main things which carers said they needed to help them carry on.
Dr John Avery, a carer from Hampshire, summed up the benefit of a break for carers "Respite for us as carers provides a break from the constant anxiety, emotional strain and physical drain of ensuring the on-going safety and well-being of our daughter"
Further Information:
- Find out more about the “Give Carers a Break” campaign and learn how local carers organizations and carers can get involved
- Government allocates £400m to PCTs
- This campaign will be launched at an event held on the afternoon of Monday, May 23 2011. To follow live tweets from the event, please follow the hashtag #givecarersabreak or our account @CarersTweets on Twitter
Comments
The hardest thing about
The hardest thing about having no real respite is the way it forces you to abandon your other family commitments, including your ability to provide for your family.
can anyone recomend any help
can anyone recomend any help i can get for my young son who is my carer,i can never seem to find anything.help x
Hi Gail41 - yes definitely
Hi Gail41 - yes definitely would love to help. If your son is under 19, we have a dedicated young carers website on www.youngcarers.net which has not only a ton of resources and information for young carers help but also an online support team that can be accessed for more personal support. We also have forums and chats for young carers where they feel comforted by each others' experiences and support.
Please also do email your contact information to youngcarers@carers.org with any other concerns you have. This is the email address of the online support workers who are always there to help young carers.
Thank you!
Let us not kid ourselves .
Let us not kid ourselves . Governments , especially this one , just do not give a toss about the plight of Carer's .Neither do local councils . We are ignored because , as Carers , we are too busy caring to fight back .What about a Fair Deal for Carer's ? A living wage , at least ?
Agreed David. The trouble
Agreed David.
The trouble with this non-ringfenced money is it is going to disappear into the ether (or someone's back pocket). It's a top-down approach to the issue.
Presumably one has to go cap-in-hand to the powers that be, have an interview with a 'client advisor', no doubt fill in some dreadful bamboozling benefits claim type of form and make a convincing case for yourself?
So let's say you actually succeed in getting whatever money is available to go on holiday, where would one go and with whom? I can sit at home looking at the rain through the window without spending money to go away to a run-down hotel in a dead seaside town. Also what if you spend most of your time away worrying about the person you care for?
Here's another idea: How about not only paying carers something approaching a living wage, but also for those of us caring for people who are too old for mobility allowance for instance(and whose only income is carers allowance) , paying enough to buy a reliable car and the costs of running one to take the person they care for out. This would also give the carer some freedom to pop out for a couple of hours every so often too (hopefully).
Sorry for the long message.
Bunny.
How true David & Bunny, to
How true David & Bunny, to admit the disgusting conditions we live under would be to admit that in 2011 slavery still exists, we are bound to the person/s we care for, we are at the mercy of the authorities who have to power to make our lives hell if we step out of line. 21st Century Oliver Twist asking for more = unpaid carers. The organisations who represent us are not helping our cause when they say we get £1odd/hour, that is for 35 hour week, at 24/7 it is more like 30p/hour with no employment rights, no health & safety, our health is being destroyed. A living wage so that we can choose what we want to spend our money on, the carers breaks are another way of controlling us - dangle a carrot and the idiots will keep on slaving away until they die. Cameron & his cohorts really do not give a damn about those of us who live in the twilight zone. £400m - this will be means tested and/or given to the favoured few, nothing to do with need, might all go in salaries to
administer the scheme, we won't see it.
Hi all I work for The
Hi all
I work for The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and I'm trying to get this £400m used to support carers. The £400m is going through the welfare system, so there shouldn't be benefit claim forms or means testing. It is being shared amongst Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) - your local NHS organisation.
The money is not ring-fenced so PCTs can spend the money how they like. However, some PCTs are spending the money on carers and setting up funds whereby carers can get up to £500 to purchase whatever support they think will help them. This could be equipment, driving lessons, weekly short breaks. And in such areas, it is often through Carers' Centres and Crossroads Care schemes that people can access this support.
However, PCTs are doing vastly different things and it is vital that we pressure the PCTs to use all of the money given to them to support carers - otherwise they may not.
Ask your MP to write to the PCT asking what they will do to support carers. Or even ask your councillor. If you have a local Carers' Centre or Crossroads Care scheme - they may be campaigning locally, so do contact them.
There's more info on www.carers.org/givecarersabreak
Thanks all
Gordon
Hi i am a carer i look after
Hi i am a carer i look after 2 family members that need care i only get 1 carers allowonce that is not enough to live on i stuggle all the time i cant believe. what i have to survive on as that is what it means im discusted at it. How do you expect us to live on that. its a joke. Imbaresment. to th uk govermenthow am i suposed to eat fruit and veg on that wheres my five a day gone. i ha illness my self a heart murmer artritis just found out only one kidney. works possible celiacs you need to take a look at the real world of carers .christine white.
I look after my wife, she was
I look after my wife, she was told last week (tuesday) that the only way she could get out and about is in a wheelchair, we got married 2yrs ago in november and still havent been on a honeymoon, shes been too ill or i have just been to tired to even think about it, she cant walk very far and has a job getting to the bathroom, she gets so embarassed and upset that she has said she doesnt want me about it hurts and because im up nearly all night with her im too tired to give her the proper attention and support she needs she gets wound up so much not being able to do things for herself she likes to be independant and used to love baking but she has just thrown all her stuff out because she cant stand there to do it, I am just so tired i cant stand there with her and do the bending etc when theres so much other stuff to do ie washing up and other bits of housework, £50 odd a week is a joke its so much like being a slave, i dont do it for the money i do it because i love her, they say that as a carer i could apply for a grant of up to £500 that wouldnt even pay for a weeks holiday, i looked recently for a week away and just for accomadation its £507 a week thats without travel costs and respite for her for the week. If you look on any site that says they can give grants for a holiday they are all for the uk and its more expensive to have a holiday here than it is to go to spain for a week. at least when you book your holiday abroad you can get half board and transfers to airport and back.... As for saying the grant will pay for driving lessons at around £25 per hour and up you wont get many of them , the cheapest intensive course i found was £1300 that was over the course of a week and was a pass for certain and included all tests and tuition needed, £500 now a days does not go far, someones pockets are gunna be bulging and its not gunna be carers that will benefit, come on something really needs to be done its not going to be long before carers will just say no enough is enough and then the tax payer foots the bill, maybe we should do that see how they feel about us then, i used to earn £200+ an hour as a tattooist in soho now i get £50 odd a week, where is the justice, professionals that do 24 hour shifts are usually 1 on 1 off or something like that as carers we do 24/7 52 weeks of the year....
I wish there was a carers union to stand up to the big wigs in parliament and tell em how we get treated is worse than a slave worse than a prisoner, in prisons they get more than we get (i have been told they get £70 a week how true it is i dont know) and then they get their meals and free electric and heating etc on top
any way sorry about the rant im just tired and really annoyed that they say they are doing stuff to help us and in reality they are doing it to help themselves and make them look good....
Ps any one know where i can get funding for driving lessons please tried everywhere and no luck! ( even tried mobility and its 16-24 yrs and i dont qualify coz im older than 24)
Hi James, We're so sorry to
Hi James,
We're so sorry to read about how things are for you and your wife. What came across very clearly from your message was just how hard you have tried to get help; so it must be especially crushing when you don't get the help you need after you've found the courage to ask for it (something carers often struggle with). What's also very clear from your message is that you're tired, worn out and very much in need of a break.
We have been fighting for increased access to carers breaks because we understand how difficult it is for carers to get breaks - and how necessary breaks are to their wellbeing. From your message, we can see that the amount offered to you for a holiday clearly isn't enough for the kind of break you feel in need of; and after all of our efforts, that's heartbreaking to read.
We wondered about an alternative though - have you and and your wife's needs been assessed by your local social care team? We ask because respite care provision can be arranged, agreed and sometimes funded by your local authority as part of the results of two assessments: a community care assessment (for your wife's needs) and a carer's assessment (for your needs). Would that help at all?
Also, would it be possible for you to approach more than one organization for funds? That might be a way of raising the full amounts for both your holiday and driving lessons? It's worth bearing in mind different types of organizations provide funds for both carers and those being cared for, so it really is worth having a look in your area for available funding.
Finally, you could try national organizations offering funds for a variety of things, by finding and looking through lists such as these:
http://www.turn2us.org.uk/information__resources/grants.aspx
We're not sure if that helped James, but we really hope things improve for you and your wife soon,
Online support team,
Carers.org
hi I have a disabled son age
hi I have a disabled son age 4 I'm his carer how do I apply for driving lessons he had tsc epilepsy autism learning difficulty a lot of hospital appoments my son can't travel on buses scared of people sp we rely on friends would love to be able to learn to drive would take a lot of stress away but with £50.66 a week could never afford
Hi Terri, Although it sounds
Hi Terri,
Although it sounds as though you and your son have lovely and supportive friends, we can understand how much difference it would make to you both, if you were able to drive.
There are a variety of grants available through the national network of Carers Trust centres (formerly known as The Princess Royal Trust for Carers). They're all organised at a local level; some are national schemes that you have to apply for through a local centre, and some are things that are only available in certain areas. So, the only way to access them is by getting in touch with your local carers' centre (as there might be all sorts of other advice or support on offer there too).
To find a centre near you, enter your address details here: http://www.carers.org/carers-centres/find-your-local-centre
And you can also try to track a local centre down by searching the internet for "carers" and your local town / city.
We hope you get the funding you need soon Terri.
Online support team,
Carers.org
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