Help for new carers

Timed to coincide with Carers Week, which is taking place from 11-17 June 2007, New to caring contains advice from experienced carers and covers all the basics that one needs to know about the financial, practical and emotional aspects of caring – and the range of help available.

Each year in the UK, a staggering 2.3 million people – that is 6,000 people a day – become a carer, finding themselves providing unpaid care to a loved one who is frail, ill or disabled. One in five is forced to give up work in order to provide the care needed. Many become isolated and do not know where to turn for help. Some even lose their homes trying to make ends meet.

New to caring is a straight-forward and friendly booklet designed to reassure new carers and prepare them for the challenges that may lie ahead. It is intended as a first step to finding out what help is available and contains sections on:

• the emotional impact of being a carer

• managing financial pressures

• looking after one’s own health

• practical help – obtaining equipment, making adaptations to the home and organising respite breaks

• benefits and entitlements

• employment and support at work

• making time for oneself

• preparing for the future

The booklet carries an entertaining foreword by Hugh Marriott, the well-known author of ‘The selfish pig’s guide to caring’, whose wife Cathie has Huntington’s disease. Hugh understands only too well the emotions, the battles and the rewards of caring and the time it takes to even recognise oneself as a carer.

The booklet concludes with handy contact details of other sources of information and help.

Imelda Redmond, Chief Executive of Carers UK, says:

“Recent research by Carers UK shows that caring hits hard in the first year. Over a lifetime, seven out of 10 women and nearly six out of 10 men will become carers yet it remains one of those things people don’t talk about. New carers, understandably, struggle to cope with the changes at home and at work, which can have serious knock-on effects on income, independence and quality of life. An incredible £740 million of benefits for carers goes unclaimed partly because of a lack of clear information.

“We are grateful to those carers of many years’ experience who contributed so much to this booklet helping new carers find their way.”

To download a copy, please click below or order a copy by telephoning 0845 241 0963.  

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Further information

Tom Hoyle

T. 020 7592 1984 

M. 07764 479 389

tom@thirdsectorpr.co.uk

Notes to editors

1.         Spokespeople and case studies are available through contacting the numbers above.

2.         For a pdf version of the new booklet, New to caring, please contact the numbers above.

3.         Carers Week, runs from 11 to 17 June 2007, the theme of which is “My life as a carer”. 

4.         In May 2007, Carers UK launched the Real change, not short change campaign and published a hard-hitting report on poverty among carers based on a survey of 2,950 carers in the UK. Carers UK is campaigning for a full review of income, benefits and opportunities to work for carers.   Carers UK is urging carers and their families to sign up to the campaign:  www.carersuk.org/Newsandcampaigns/Shortchanged/TellGordonBrown

5.         About Carers UK

Carers UK is the leading campaigning, policy and information organisation of and for carers. Carers UK continues to make a difference to carers' lives by: campaigning for a better deal for carers; informing carers of their rights and what help is available; training and advising professionals who work with carers; working across the UK through its membership and networks of branches and affiliates. For more information, visit www.carersuk.org or for advice on your caring situation call CarersLine on T. 0808 808 7777

Visit www.carersuk.org

6.         This work has been funded as part of the Action for Carers and Employment project (ACE). ACE National is a development partnership led by Carers UK and funded by the European Social Fund’s Equal programme which raises awareness of the barriers facing carers who wish to work, and tests and promotes ways of supporting them. Visit www.acecarers.org.uk