Cornwall MP values the work done by unpaid carers
MP learns more about voluntary workers
8:50am Saturday 7th January 2012 in Cornwall
Truro and Falmouth MP Sarah Newton has been given a insight into how voluntary sector organisations are working with Cornwall Council and the NHS to develop better support for people.
She joined Stephen Gilbert, MP for St Austell and Newquay, at a Carers’ Support Group at Age UK Cornwall’s Newquay Day Centre.
They were told about ‘Changing Lives’, a wide-ranging partnership which is developing a number of services, including support for volunteering and a programme tackling falls in older people.
Changing Lives brings together Cornwall Council, NHS Cornwall and a range of voluntary sector organisations.
Together, they aim to improve the health and wellbeing of the people in Cornwall by creating a society that encourages mutual aid, with communities taking control and responsibility, and celebrating diversity.
Mrs Newton said: “I was pleased to have the opportunity to learn more about the Changing Lives programme, and the wider support offered by Cornwall Council to people in Cornwall, particularly to those with care needs, and the carers who look after them.
“It is important to remember the role the six million carers in the UK play in looking after our vulnerable people.
“The estimated value of the care and support offered by carers nationally, many of them informally caring for family members, is a staggering £119billion per year.”
