Guest Blog by Sawsan Bastawy

The 2011 Census data released earlier this week has shown disappointing progress for carers. Since 2001, the number of carers in the UK has risen by just over 600,000 people and it is predicted that three out of five people will be carers at some point in their lives. Notably, the number of carers over the age of 65 is rising quicker than for any other age group.
Among the results were the findings that young carers and BAME (British Asian and Ethnic Minority) carers are being neglected by government support systems, namely the NHS; being offered support at a rate less than for older white carers, as well as a lower quality of support.
With the advent of the festive season, however, comes a wealth of support from NGO’s, charities, and individuals taking advantage of the festive spirit and bringing in support for carers across the UK. It is the use of simple technology, however, that is taking the lead in the campaign to improve conditions for carers.
It is now becoming even simpler for people to donate to their favourite charities from home. Everyclick, which is run by the same people who manage Give as you Live, is a search engine like all other search engines, but it has made donating money to your favourite causes not only easier, but free. Once you have filled out a simple form, or signed in with Facebook, you will be asked to select a charity. Each time you use Everyclick as a search engine from then on, you will be raising money for your chosen charity. And, of course, getting those last minute Christmas presents through Give as you Live is a fantastic way to show your support.
Carers UK is one of six charities that will benefit from the ITV Text Santa appeal, in which the public are being encouraged to text the word SANTA to 70070 to donate £5. This £5 will be deducted immediately from the bill payer’s phone credit and 100% of the donation will go to the six chosen charities, who will divide it equally once the appeal is over. Donations can also be made at branches of Santander by cash or cheque, and Domino’s Pizza have pledged their support by asking their customers to round up the cost of their order to the nearest pound and donating the extra cost to Carers UK.
Carers Trust has also arranged a text appeal similar to ITV Text Santa whereby the public can donate £5 to the Carers Trust by texting “CTRT01 5” to 70070.
A recent campaign that garnered enormous success thanks to the internet is Pat’s Petition. Pat’s Petition urged the government to take a step back and consider the damage that their welfare cuts will do to those who are dependent, their carers and their families. This petition spread like wildfire online, gaining over 62,600 signatures, and was thus delivered to the government. In response to the petition the government has agreed to give the Pat’s Petition campaign an Opposition Day Debate in the House of Commons where the scope of the consequences of cutting benefits will be properly addressed. The campaign has now moved from ‘Pat’s Petition’ to ‘Pat’s Debate’, now a hashtag circulating widely on Twitter.
How soon carers will feel the impact of the aforementioned campaigns is yet to be clear, and the problems most cited by carers at Christmas- namely loneliness and financial struggles- will not
necessarily improve this year. There are, however, invaluable support systems in the shape of forums and chatrooms on the Chill4Us website as well as on the Carers UK website, and the Carers Trust website. With one in six carers having cut their hours at work or left work altogether; the Chill4Us Forum is a fantastic source of support and advice for those carers who need to be at home most of the time, and for whom having a social life is next to impossible.
Thanks to the efforts of fundraisers on the street as well as campaigners tackling issues for carers in Parliament, next Christmas is beginning to look a little brighter for carers and their loved ones.
Some useful links:

carer support http://chill4us.com/index.php
fundraising@carersuk.org
http://www.itv.com/textsanta/
http://forum.carersuk.org/
http://www.carers.org/carers-chat