Caring Together has a Carer Council so that the voice of carers is heard throughout the work of Caring Together, and elsewhere.
We want to update you on what was covered at the Council’s most recent meeting. If you want to find out more about our Carer Council, including if you would be interested in knowing more about joining and having your say in this way, you can click here to read more. The Council meets quarterly, often by video call.
Below are some of the topics discussed at the recent Council meeting.
Caring Together strategy
Status of the new Caring Together vision of no unpaid carer in crisis, isolated or struggling alone was discussed.
There has been great support from people across the charity, including discussions at team days that were held recently. There was discussion about the fundraising and digital elements of the strategy.
With the digital work we are looking to reach more unpaid carers and use our website, email newsletters and social media to help them get the advice and support they need. We also use these channels to reach more professionals so they are more able to identify and support unpaid carers, and to support fundraising.
Caring magazine
The new Caring magazine was shared, with an update on how unpaid carers and employees had given their views and shaped the relaunch of the magazine. The Council gave positive feedback on the new look and content.
Carers Week
The Carer Council was updated about Caring Together’s plans for Carers Week (from 5-11 June).
Events planned for the week include:
- A Time for Tea in ’23 event at our St Ives offices
- A series of webinars for community organisations, health organisations and employers about how they can play a valuable role in identifying and supporting unpaid and the Carer Friendly Tick Award.
- Carers speak out, which was started in Carers Week 2022 and led to a report for Carers Rights Day in 2022 was also being highlighted as part of the build-up to Carers Week.
Caring Together website
A demonstration was given of the new menu function on the Caring Together website which allows people to get to the information they need more quickly. The structure had been put together including the input from unpaid carers.
Keeping Carer Council updated
Plans were made to make sure members of Carer Council get more regular updates on the work of Caring Together.
New members welcome
It would be good to have new members of the Carer Council. People are able to contact chair, Steve Acklam to have a chat if they are interested. You can email Steve at [email protected]
