Meet Enid, a carer campaigner from Birmingham

How did you get into campaigning?

I’ve always been a campaigner. I’ve cared for my mother for as long as I can remember. I was very angry about constantly being passed from pillar to post by professionals. I joined a carersgroup which put me in touch with our local Carers Forum. I was encouraged to speak at events, and everything led from there.

Tell us about your campaigning and what you’ve achieved?

One of the real gaps in local services was in the care for people with Alzheimer’s provided by the Heart of Birmingham Trust. Two years ago there were only two support workers providing home visits, telephone contact. We’ve campaigned hard on this and now have 24 support workers in place, including dedicated support for Black & Minority Ethnic communities.

We’ve had a real triumph in changing the way that our ‘I Care’ mental health forum operates. The forum includes carers and professionals and used to get very jargon-filled which meant the carers didn’t contribute very much. Now we’ve banned the use of jargon and insist that people speak in plain English – it’s made a huge difference.

Recently I’ve started a campaign to raise awareness called ‘You forgot about me’ about over 65’s with mental health problems who are often missed out by services. I’ve been trying to highlight their needs and have written to MPs including Ivan Lewis [the Minister for Carers in England]. I’m hoping that the publicity surrounding carers at the moment will put pressure on local services to act.

What would you say to carers who are thinking of campaigning but don’t know where to start?

There is lots of support available. Get in touch with your local group They’ll be able to put you in touch with like-minded carers who want to make a difference. There’s often training available to help give you confidence to speak out. Carers UK also provides fantastic support for carers – all the awareness raising work it does really helps our local campaigning. In mental health, talking to professionals and being involved in meetings is wonderful therapy in itself. It gives you tremendousconfidence. Something to bear in mind is that many professionals working in social care, are often carers themselves.

I was recently invited to take part in a CSCI inspection – I spoke to Denise Platt [Chair of CSCI], during the inspection, and found out that she has been a carer– she couldn’t have been more understanding. When you go to meetings you see things from the inside, it gives you a real insight and understanding into how things are organised. I’ve also taken part in training social workers, and the culture really is changing – it’s not a case of them and us any more. When I’ve given speeches at professionals’ conferences theygenuinely listen to me, and are learning from what I’m saying.

This interview appears in the latest edition of the Equal Partners newsletter - more...