About Carers Week
Carers Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face, and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK. It also helps people who don't think of themselves as having caring responsibilities to identify as carers and access much-needed support. Carers Week is led by Carers UK with the support of a number of other charities.
Our theme for Carers Week 2026 is Building Carer Friendly Communities. We’ll be highlighting the impact carer friendly communities can have in making a real and lasting difference to the lives of carers everywhere.
Carer friendly communities are places, spaces, services and community groups where unpaid carers are recognised, understood, and valued. They make support part of everyday life ensuring carers get the opportunities and help they need.
Get involved and help to build communities that support carers in every area of their lives.
Previous Carers Week campaigns
Carers Week 2025: Caring About Equality
The theme for Carers Week 2025 was Caring About Equality and highlighted the inequalities faced by unpaid carers, including a greater risk of poverty, social isolation, poor mental and physical health. Far too often, carers of all-ages miss out on opportunities in their education, careers, or personal lives, just because of their caring role.
The Caring About Equality report, published on the first day of Carers Week (9 June 2025), explored the impacts of caring for current and former carers and the disadvantages that carers feel they face relative to people without caring experience.
The research found that over a fifth of people (22%) are currently providing unpaid care, and 46% of people have provided care at some point – either now or in the past. As a result, we estimated there are 11.9 million people currently providing unpaid care in the UK, and 24.9 million people who have provided unpaid care at some point in their lives.
The report looked specifically at key health and wellbeing issues, finding that 43% of current or former carers – an estimated 10.7 million people – have seen a mental or physical health condition develop or become worse since taking on a caring responsibility for someone. This figure is higher again for current carers at 48%.
Significant and sustained action is needed to address the inequalities faced by carers, particularly on carers’ own health and wellbeing. Carers UK and the other charities supporting Carers Week 2025 called on the UK Government to address the inequalities that carers of all ages currently face by committing to coordinated cross-Government action in support of unpaid carers, including engagement with carers of all ages and wider stakeholders.
Carers Week's 2024: Putting carers on the map
The theme for Carers Week 2024 was 'Putting carers on the map'. In the run up to the General Election, our campaign highlighted the increasing pressures faced by carers and called for policymakers and politicians to take steps to better support carers’ needs.
The No choice but to care report, published on the first day of Carers Week 2024 found that 62% of those who are currently providing or those who have previously provided unpaid care said that they had no choice in taking on the role because no other care options were available – this is around 10 million adults. While caring can be rewarding, the impact of providing unpaid care had been more negative than positive for all areas current and former unpaid carers were asked about, particularly for mental health (63%), physical health (53%), Job and ability to work (48%) and finances and savings (47%). The negative impacts as a result of caring were also felt most strongly by those who had no choice but to take on an unpaid caring role as well as women and those aged 45-54.
The research also found that 73% of members of the public surveyed for the research think that unpaid carers should receive more support from the Government following the July 2025 election, particularly financial support and investment in social care.
