State Of Caring Survey 2017

[Chris From The Gulag]

At this late stage , why not extend the Survey a little ?

Trussells ... 10 / 20 hard copies ... 6 branches across the country.

Only 10 come back ? That's 10 more from a new source that you would not have had before , or any other time in the past ?

At least then you will have had some input from those carers very near to the bottom of the economic / social pile ?

Apart from comparing their views with what's coming in online , vital if one is extrapolating the findings from , say , a couple of thousand to six million ???

As for the Trussells input , extrapolating those findings would probably be more accurate due to the common factors.

Exclude them as if they do not exist ?

How else are you going to take their views into account ???

After all , carers will expect the same picture we see in CarerLand.

Housing ? Conditions some of us have to survive/ live in ? Omitted ?

Perhaps Shelter may be able to provide some data for you ?

And in CarerLand , there are no " No go " areas ....... for carers.

[Nikki Carers UK]

Hi Chris,

A quote from the original article on the website at the bottom of the survey regarding offline submissions...

If you know carers who would struggle to fill out the survey online and would like to print out a paper copy, you can download one here: http://www.carersuk.org/images/Download ... Survey.pdf and post it back to: Policy at Carers UK, 20 Great Dover Street, London SE1 4LX.

Unfortunately, we don’t have much capacity to enter this data online so where possible, we really appreciate you filling in the survey online.

Thanks
Nikki

[Chris From The Gulag]

Thanks Nikki ... that would go down well with Trussells as an opening " Hello , we need your help with producing a more accurate survey ... " type email.

To do the same , 10 / 20 hard copies , 6 branches after getting the nod from hq ( " There's no problem , now what's yours ? " ) , postage / pre paid reply envelopes ... almost a week's income for me ... and no way to offset expense against tax .... as if I earned enough to pay tax in the first place ? .... might have to drop in one branch myself ?

For any carer without Internet access 'ere in Worksop , the local library is the place. Complete online inside a 20 minute slot after a wait of anything from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Print off additional copies ? Facility is available at 5p per sheet , and , for , say , 20 other carers , the cost would be ... ? I am not sure if the printer available allows memory stick input as opposed to straightforward copying.

In local post office just over 30 miutes ago. 3 customers ahead of me all were told the same thing ... online only nowadays ... 2 out of 3 mentioned no access to the internet , third uttered an anglo saxon expression and left in a hurry.

Not my survey , just want it to be a little more reflective ... as do other readers ?

Strange really , carers and the Voice are seeking the same thing , a picture of CareLand ... carers see a Turner ( As if a photograph had been taken ) , the same picture as the Voice ?

Reminds me of the husband and wife scenario when hubby spends 20 / 30 hours painting an inside wall ? When he stands back and asks she who must be obeyed ( Occasionly ) for her views , why does she always spot the bits he missed first ??? Substitute " carers " for " the wife " ?

Oh well ... and now for something completely different ... after surviving the last one ?

[bowlingbun]

Getting any change on this forum can be a long uphill struggle due to technical issues.

[Chris From The Gulag]

Getting any change on this forum can be a long uphill struggle due to technical issues.

Rest assured , Tom over at Carers Radio is still fixing the problem that caused the last agm to go unrecorded , the minutes of which probably misfiled together with last year's accounts.

CC 48 ?

Still , 7 months or so to fix it before AGM 2017 ... and , fingers crossed , a recurrence of the same problem ?

Still , good odds on lightning striking twice !

My bet already placed.

Now to nobble Tom. " No ! " ... okay , a thick brown envelope with my name on it ?

Don't forget to cross the previous name off first !

It wasn't needed last year , genuine technical problem !

[Maz1963]

Nikki - I have to say that after many, many years of caring for my mum pre dementia, and now one and a half years with her (severe) dementia, I'm not doing any more surveys. Nothing has changed in umpteen years of me being a carer, and I doubt it ever will. Only when my caring role is over, will it change. We are all stretched, tired, stressed, financially disadvantaged, have no life, etc., etc. In my current situation I barely have time to breathe as my mum shadows me everywhere. To give up some of my time to complete questionnaires (not just for this organisation) is hard, especially when nothing has changed, nor will it. 60p a week increase in Carer's Allowance? All carer organisations should be ashamed of themselves that this is where we are today. I am no racist, but someone who steps into this country for the first time seems to get more support on day one than some carers who were born here and have lived under this system all their lives. Utterly shameful, and so very, very disappointing that nothing has changed.

I'm not having a pop at Carers UK - just at the system. It stinks. No more surveys, no more expectations of anything ever improving for carers. I'll just get on with it and hope I have some health and sanity left when it's all over to live a few years myself.

[Nikki Carers UK]

Hi Maz,

Thanks for the feedback. We do appreciate that taking 25 mins out of a carers day can have a big impact and we're grateful to everyone that fills in the survey for giving us this time commitment.
The survey isn't necessarily suited to everyone and that's fine, it's not a compulsory requirement, it's just a way for us to gain insight into what's happening every year so we're able to better present the findings and try to campaign for lasting change and trying to improve things for carers.
The more people that fill out the survey the better as that does help us to have a better understanding from individuals of their own situations as we're well aware that caring is complex and very different in every case.

The survey did allow us to present information to the government which helped to make some changes last year, some of which I've posted higher up in the thread, along with a link to the full report from 2016. We do understand that in a tough political climate that many organisations will be trying to gain data from their supporters in order to campaign and without gaining the data, it's difficult to present a strong case for change.

If the asks for survey completion are becoming too much, most email lists will have an unsubscribe button you can press at the end of the email which will prevent you receiving anymore related communications which should help you to feel less bombarded.

I have passed your feedback onto the policy team who manage the survey to take into consideration for next years survey.

Kind regards
Nikki

[Chris From The Gulag]

Perhaps a return to the grass roots through the old local carer centres , and enabling them to submit reports to hq as to local conditions on their manors would be an alternative.

No need to ask questions , the reports submitted will do that ?

Then compare a prosperous area with , say , my manor.

Age old problem of what may work well in , say , Surrey wouldn't even touch the surface in , say , Worksop ?

Local problems need local solutions , and be made by those on that manor.

Hq would need a pretty powerful telescope to identify what works across the country , and what doesn't in many areas if economic / social conditions are taken into account.

Incredibily , all reports would highlight similiar problems , the only difference being the degree ?

#########################################################################

ps. Almost forgot , policy team ?

When adding the survey file , ask them to find one with a layer of dust ... Carers Concessionary Travel ...
the thick one with £ 300/400 million on the front of it ... both yourself and Helena have put yellow post it notes on the cover.

Perhaps a shunt nearer to the top ?

Might get a phone call from the House before long on that one ?

Even the RSPCA asking why the problem with guide dogs ? Fairly simple , they go free , carers don't !

Same " Rights " as guide dogs please ? Who could possibly argue against that ?

Half price ? I think the majority of the 6 million would settle for that , but how do I ask them ?

Just one Issue ... with so many interlocking others ?

Ignore the file that says 21 Hour Rule on the cover ... we'll deal direct with that one.

Not to much to ask ?

6 million or so would thank you for that.

[Eun]

In our 31 years of caring for our beautiful late son Carers "UK" more like carers Engerlund! has done ZERO, ZILCH and NADA to change the situation for 24/7 carers!

Eun

[Chris From The Gulag]

I echo Eun on that one.

Only thing that could have made a difference was an injection of monies.

To stop the hemorrhaging of what little we had left , and enable us to buy in help with what would have been left over.

Nine years on and I am still paying for it !

Not too much to ask for those amongst us who are either lone or constantly caring despite the hours , or both ?

What action ( Not policy ) has addressed that issue in , say , the past 20 years ?

And please , not lobbying again ... said card played a little too often as if it were a joker in the pack ?

If paid the same rate as carers let alone our conditions of " service " , would lobbying be the chosen route for all lobbyists ?

In that case , how many lobbyists would be lobbyists in the first place ?

Purely rhetorical questions ......