Carers Week 2011 is the biggest carers week ever

Carer’s Week 2011 saw over 1,700 local organisations organising 8,000 events and activities across the country – a 30% increase on previous years.

The annual event, which this year took place between 13th and 19th June, celebrates the true face of carers and aims to support the six million people in the UK providing unpaid or informal care in the community.

It was established in 2001 by a partnership of nine national charities, namely: Age UK; Carers UK; Counsel & Care; Crossroads Care; Dementia UK; Macmillan Cancer Support; MS Society; Parkinson’s UK; and The Princess Royal Trust for Carers.

The major objectives of Carers Week have always been to raise the profile of carers, who save the economy £119 billion each year, inform and influence decision-makers, such as MPs and healthcare professionals, and help secure more resources for carers.

Carers Week 2011 kicked off as the results of the annual carers survey were announced. According to the survey, 4 out of 5 unpaid carers are worried about cuts to services and 75% of respondents say they are worse off financially since they began their caring duties. Many are worried that the support they rely on may be axed. Two thirds of carers said that they were surprised at the lack of support provided by the Government and many revealed that they struggled with debt.

Many famous faces with personal experience of caring for a loved one lent their support to Carers Week 2011. Dame Judi Dench, along with Sir David Jason OBE, Sir Jack Charlton OBE, Martin Lewis and Angela Rippon, backed the campaign and says: “As someone with experience of caring for a loved one, I am happy to offer my support to Carers Week. 3 in 5 people will be an unpaid carer at some point in their lives and many of them sacrifice everything to save our economy £119 billion every year. It’s time to give them something back.”

Prime Minister David Cameron spoke at a reception on Wednesday 15th June, sponsored by Skills for Care and Skills for Health, as part of Carers Week. He said the Government must commit money to the cause and show unpaid carers more support and understanding. Skills for Care and Skills for Health also joined together to launch a new set of guidance, ‘Carers Matter – Everybodys Business’, in support of Carers Week 2011.

First Response Training provides a wide range of training for the care sector. All courses have been carefully developed and mapped to meet the outcomes of the refreshed Skills for Care Common Induction Standards and Care Quality Commission (CQC) requirements. Many courses also link to the Diploma in Health and Social Care (Level 2), and the majority can be externally accredited if required.

Perry Leeks, Managing Director at First Response, says: “Carers across the UK do a fantastic job and it’s great that time has been taken to acknowledge and celebrate that. Our aim is to support carers across the country with high quality training that meets their needs and the challenges they face. For more information about any of our care sector training courses, please call us on free phone 0800 310 2300.”