First for Community Engagement
Posted on
Forum for Disabled People
There is a free online event on 15th July 1:00pm until 2:00pm. Everyone is welcome, carers included via a carers ticket.
Wellbeing Creative Time for Disabled People
Join a free Teamwork Community Event by registing to attend Creative Wellbeing Time for Disabled People in Wellingborough & North Northants. It will be held at Tithe Barn, Wellingborough, NN81GD on 20th July, 2021 at 9:45am until 2:00pm.
Posted on
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.
The campaign is brought to life by thousands of individuals and organisations who come together to provide support for carers, run activities and highlight the vital role carers play in our communities, drawing attention to just how important caring is.
[Read more…] about Carers Week 2021Posted on
NHS Northamptonshire Clinical Commissioning Group has been given some funding by NHS England to be spent on a SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) related project for children and young people. It has been agreed that this funding will be used to develop a Northamptonshire Health Passport for children and young people with SEND. There are a number of different hospital passports available in Northamptonshire and this is a good opportunity to bring them all together and create a single document which can be used for both Hospital admissions and Health appointments eg. GP, Dentist, Optician.
As part of the project they have arranged some participation and feedback activities with CYP, parents/carers and professionals to look at an existing example of a Health Passport from another area to provide information on what they would like the Northamptonshire version to look like. Children and young people are being invited to participate in a school-based feedback activity.
View an example of a Health Passport from Brent, Ealing and Harrow. This works well within the local area and it is being used as a starting point to create a version that works well within Northamptonshire.
The questionnaire will be live and open for responses until 30th April.
Posted on
Carers’ Voice meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month, between 10.30 am to 12.30 pm. We are currently meeting online using Zoom until further notice.
Dates of meetings for 2021 are:
14th January
11th February
11th March
8th April
13th May
10th June
8th July
12th August
9th September
14th October
11th November
Please email carersvoice@connectedtogether.co.uk or phone 07856 875132 (please leave a message) to find out more.
Posted on
During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic there have been many changes to health, care and support services, which will have affected those who provide informal (unpaid) care to family and friends. Healthwatch Northamptonshire, Carers’ Voice Northamptonshire and Northamptonshire Carers would like to know about your experiences.
When Healthwatch Northamptonshire asked people to tell them about their experiences of health and care services during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic earlier in 2020, they became aware of some of the extra difficulties and challenges faced by those who provide unpaid or informal care for their loved ones.
Together with Northamptonshire Carers and Carers’ Voice Northamptonshire, Healthwatch Northamptonshire would like to find out more about the experiences of those who have been providing unpaid care since March 2020.
There are two surveys, one for those age 18 and over (anyone younger than 18 can answer this longer survey if they wish) and one for young people age 11 to 17.
The findings of these surveys will be shared with the service providers and planners to inform their work and help them to continue to deliver good quality care and support carers at this time.
These surveys are intended for unpaid carers (sometimes referred to as ‘informal’ or ‘family’ carers). This means someone who provides unpaid care or support for a relative, friend or neighbour. This person can be an adult or child and the care is as a result of additional needs due to a disability, mental illness or a long term health condition. This excludes people providing care as part of paid work – for example working in a care home, hospital or care agency but does include people providing care for a loved one who is in receipt of Carers Allowance or a Direct Payment.
If you need help completing the survey, would like to complete it over the phone, have any questions or would like to tell Healthwatch Northamptonshire about anything not covered by this survey, please contact them here.
They will also be holding focus groups or are happy to phone you to discuss your experiences. If this is something you are interested in, please sign up here.
Please do share this survey with any unpaid carers or groups you know and if a group you work with would like to share more feedback, do get in touch.
This survey will close on 31 January 2021.
Posted on
Add your name to their open letter to the Chancellor, calling for more support for unpaid carers to help them care safely during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on the lives of carers and those they are caring for. A majority have had to provide extraordinary hours of care for loved ones with increasing needs during the crisis, often without the usual help from family and friends, and with limited or no support from local services.
It has left them exhausted and close to breaking point, that is why Carers UK are calling on the Government to provide more support to unpaid carers to help them through the COVID-19 pandemic.
To mark Carers Rights Day 2020, they have released new research which found that unpaid carers have provided £135 billion worth of care in the first 8 months of the COVID-19 pandemic– that means, each day during the pandemic, unpaid carers are saving the UK state a staggering £530 million in the care they provide.
Previous research shows that the two thirds of carers have not been able to take any breaks at all during the COVID-19 pandemic and this is impacting on carers physical and mental health, over half have seen their physical health impacted by caring through the pandemic, while 64% said their mental health has worsened. The majority (67%) are worried about how they will continue to care safely through the coming winter.
As a result, Carers UK are calling on Government to urgently provide unpaid carers with additional support and to give back to them by prioritising their health, well-being, and resilience through the COVID-19 pandemic.
