What we offer
We provide information and support for carers, individually or in groups:
- At home
- In local community venues
- By telephone, email or video call
Contact us to find out how we can help.
Carers Information and Support Service
At Carers Together we offer friendly and confidential services that aim to ease the pressure of caring. Our team of staff and volunteers are on hand to help carers with any issues they may face, including benefits, health problems, housing, training, employment, taking a break from caring or concerns about the person they care for.
Our Carers Information and Support workers will listen to carers’ experiences, help them to identify their needs and work with them to find solutions. We can also attend meetings with carers and link in with other relevant agencies to help carers manage their caring responsibilities.
We support carers whatever their caring role, their situation or their circumstances. This includes people who care for someone with memory problems, mental health difficulties or substance misuse issues. We also support parent carers looking after a child or young person with a disability, illness or health condition.
We provide flexible support that can respond to carers’ changing needs.
Carers Together provide flexible support that can respond to a carer’s changing needs.
Carers Initial Assessments
Our team can help carers to complete Carers Initial Assessments.
An assessment gives carers an opportunity to talk about what they do to support the person they care for and how caring affects their lives, their health, work, finances and relationships. It helps us to identify your support needs and we may refer you to the local council or other support organisations who can help to meet your needs.
Carers have a legal right to an assessment of their needs regardless of the amount or type of care you provide, your financial means or your level of need for support. You can have an assessment whether or not the person you care for has had a social care assessment, or if the local council have decided they are not eligible for support.
Almost a third of people caring for 35 hours or more per week say that they receive no practical support with caring
Support for Carers of Patients in Hospitals
It can be a worrying time when the people carers look after are unwell and in hospital: carers may be concerned about how they will look after them when they return home.
We have staff who are on hand to support carers before, during and after a patient’s discharge from hospital, to ensure that carers can take on or continue their caring role.
If you require advice and guidance when the person you care for is being discharged from hospital we have produced a leaflet to help you through the process, which can be downloaded by clicking on the following link Carers Together Discharge Leaflet.
54% of people caring for someone discharged from hospital had either not been consulted about their discharge or had only been consulted at the last minute
Welfare Rights Service
Our in-house Welfare Rights Team support carers and the people they care for to negotiate the benefit system. Our team help to maximise your income by ensuring that you are in receipt of the correct benefit entitlements. We support carers to complete forms, and we assist with benefit appeals right through to tribunals if required.
44% of carers have been in debt as a result of caring
Counselling Service
We offer a free counselling service to carers to help improve their emotional wellbeing. Caring for someone can be exhausting both physically and mentally so it is important that carers look after their own health and wellbeing. Whilst it can be helpful for carers to talk to family and friends about how they feel, it is sometimes easier to talk to a qualified and experienced counsellor.
Daytime appointments are available.
92% of carers said that their mental health has been affected by caring
Grief and Loss Service
The Carers Grief and Loss Service will aim to help you cope more effectively with the impact of loss or grief following a traumatic event by
- Providing a range of emotional support services tailored to your needs. This could include one to one counselling, regular calls and visits from our team or group support.
- Helping to reconnect you to the community and support you to access your chosen activities.
- Providing somebody to listen to you and help with any practical issues you may have.
Information and Support for Working Carers and Employers
Balancing the demands of caring with the responsibilities of a paid job can be difficult. Carers who give up work can often face financial hardship so it’s worth thinking about the support you might need to maintain your caring role, as well as your paid job. This could include having access to a phone to contact the person you care for, time off for appointments, or flexible working arrangements.
Talking to an employer about your caring role is not easy. However, there may be existing support available at work that you are not aware of. We can help to support carers and employers to discuss working carers’ needs and rights.
We can provide employers with information, training and advice in recruiting, retaining and supporting staff who are unpaid carers.
By 2037 it is anticipated that the number of carers will increase to 9 million
Next Steps
Are you aged 15 to 25 with a caring responsibility? If so from April 1st 2022 Next Steps Transitions Service, delivered in partnership The Junction and Carers together are here to support you in your caring journey. We can offer a range of support dependant on your circumstances to help you to manage your caring responsibilities, for further information please contact The Junction Foundation on 01642 756000 or Carers Together on 01642 488977 or Text/ Whatsapp 07767117556. You can also contact us via email to info@carerstogether-rc.org.uk and info@thejunctionfoundation.com
Next Steps will provide a dedicated service to support Young Adult Carers aged 15 to 25 years in transition to adulthood.
Carers Card Scheme
Carers often worry about what would happen if they were delayed, taken ill or called away. We can provide a free Carers Card which offers peace of mind for the carer and for the person they care for, knowing an agreed plan can be activated in an emergency.
The number of carers aged 65+ increased by 35% between 2001 and 2011
Activities and Events
Social distancing doesn’t mean that you have to stop seeing friends completely!
With this in mind, we’re making the most of modern technology to ensure that we can stay connected, and are hosting a wide range of online events using Zoom.
Why not join us from the comfort of your own home and meet our friendly team and chat with other Carers.
Each week we are hosting a wide range of weekly activities including Virtual Coffee Mornings, Quizzes, Singalongs and History Talks to name just a few.
Our Information and Support Team are hosting sessions to provide carers with a wide range of information on topics such as changes to welfare benefits and services.
All of the groups are full of friendly faces and new carers are always welcome. If you haven’t attended a group before or are unsure of how to use Zoom, please contact the office on 01642 488977 and speak to Jay Jackson, Volunteer and Engagement Officer.
In England and Wales 58% of carers are women and 42% are men
Find out dates and times of our groups and events on our Events Calendar or contact the office on 01642 488977 to subscribe to our E-Newsletter.
To attend one of our online events, just contact the office on 01642 488977 to register your interest, you’ll then be issued with the individual event joining details.
You can sign up to Zoom via your browser here: https://zoom.us/signup or download the app for mobile or tablets here: https://zoom.us/support/download.
Training for Carers
Training can help carers to feel more knowledgeable and confident in managing their caring role. The training we provide for carers includes First Aid, Food Hygiene, Moving and Handling and Caring with Confidence. Our training sessions are free and delivered at different venues and times to provide flexibility for carers.
View our Events Calendar which details all of our planned training sessions.
Over 3 million people in England and Wales are working alongside caring
Training for Staff in Other Organisations
We offer training sessions in Carer Awareness for staff and volunteers in organisations in the public, voluntary and private sectors. Training sessions can be tailored to meet the needs of particular groups of staff/volunteers.
There are over 6.5 million carers in the UK
Charity number: 1128910.
Company number: 6746629