Carers Voice news

Carers need to be recognised for the difficulties they are experiencing, respected for all they are doing, and provided with information, support and understanding. Therefore during Carers Week different organisations are coming together to help make caring visible. 

Northamptonshire Carers is running a ‘virtual campaign’ on social media platforms to invite Carers, services and businesses to come together during Carers Week, called #CarersCan. Each day they are hosting events with the aim to connect Carers and raise awareness of support that may be available to them and celebrate all they do. Themes include: Carers can Make Music, Move, Support Each Other, Drive Change, Take Time Out, go to Work and Learn and Have Fun! 

To find out more about events in Northamptonshire visit https://www.northamptonshire-carers.org/about-carers-week-2020 and read the summary below.

You do not need to have a social media account of your own to take part and enjoy these activities. Just click on these links to view their social media accounts:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/northamptonshire.carers/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NorthantsCarers

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEnfygT6Y4–TFCu7UmC9lA

Northamptonshire Carers #CarersCan Campaign and Carers Week events:

8th June: Carers Can Make Music
9am – Launch of Carers Week and the TikTok dance competition
9.15 – Daily fun 15 minute energiser
Ukulele tuition, sing-a-thon, quiz, an evening music gig and much more

9th June: Carers Can Move
9.15am – Daily fun 15 minute energiser
Seated exercise, high intensity, dance class and much more

10th June: Carers Can Create
9.15am – Daily fun 15 minute energiser
Creative competition entries, flower arranging demonstration, lock-down project Zoom share, willow weaving and much more

11th June: Carers Can Take Time Out
9.15am – Daily fun 15 minute energiser
Tapping, mindfulness, hand massage, well-being workshop, flower arranging, sitting service and much more

12th June: Carers Can Support Each other and Have Some Fun
9.15am – Daily fun 15 minute energiser
Live Pilates, dance, laughter Therapy, Parent Carer support Zoom, fishing group, the winner of the creative competition announcement and much more

13th June: Carers Can Work & Learn
9.15am – Daily fun 15 minute energiser
Videos from Working Carers, employers, Workbridge, a workout with physio to support home working and much more

14th June: Carers Can Drive Change
9.15am – Daily fun 15 minute energiser
Partner organisations, Long Buckby Surgery and much more

We now have meeting dates for 2020

The meeting will take place on the second Thursday of each month. We meet at The Queen Eleanor Pub, Newport Pagnell Road West, Wootton, Northampton, NN4 7JJ

The dates are as follows:

• 9th January 2020
• 13th February 2020
• 12th March 2020
• 9th April 2020
• 14th May 2020
• 11th June 2020
• 9th July 2020
• 13th August 2020
• 10th September 2020
• 8th October 2020
• 12th November 2020
• Traditionally we do not have a meeting in December.

You can also locate this information in the ‘About’ section of our Facebook page, clicking on ‘Our Story’.

We hope you will be able to make some of our meetings! 

During the autumn of 2018, Carers’ Voice and Healthwatch Northamptonshire undertook a small piece of work to identify the impact of recent cuts to Adult Social Care by Northamptonshire County Council on carers and those they care for.

33 people responded to a survey.  People reported changes to or a reduction in both health services and care in the community. The results of this snapshot survey are useful in highlighting the negative impact cuts can have on health and social care services, and vulnerable groups and their carers in particular.

Carers’ Voice has written an Annual Review to let you know what they have achieved during the last year.

A special welcome to all our new members who joined us during the year and thank you for your contributions. We would like to update you on what was accomplished during the year and provide you with a glimpse of some of our activities.

Firstly, we would like to thank our partners Healthwatch Northamptonshire and Northamptonshire Carers for their input and support. We were able to secure funding for an assistant working with Healthwatch to attend our monthly meetings and take minutes; update our Facebook page; publish material online on our webpage and work with Healthwatch, passing on relevant information to our group.

Last year our assistant helped to develop a new promotional leaflet alongside the launch and retrieved online analytics and updates for our 2018 Impact Survey.

Carers’ Voice exists to gather the views of Carers into the services and support them and those they care for receive from the county’s health and social care providers.

“We then present what we learn to the people that plan and deliver those services to persuade them to ensure what they provide actually meets the needs of ourselves and those we care for. We are independent of all service providers. Your representatives in Carers’ Voice sit on several influential decision-making forums in the county and are increasingly being listened to as the shortage of public finance demands that more care take place in the community and all funds are spent wisely. The recent widely publicised financial problems of the County Council make it all the more urgent and important that we do this well.”

To represent you well, Carers’ Voice needs to know what you think is needed and about your experience of the county’s services. They mentioned the urgent need to grow the numbers of Carers together with the varieties of care they provide so that they can carry out this challenging role on your behalf most effectively. But Carers’ Voice needs to keep their costs down so they will mostly be relying upon a community of carers that they can reach electronically with questionnaires that are appropriate to their particular experiences of care. Their questionnaires will not take long to complete.

If you want to help and have an email address through which we can reach you, please send your name and contact e-mail to carersvoice@connectedtogether.co.uk or fill in the sign-up form.