Category Archives: Carers

The benefit sanctions regime has “gone too far”, leading “to destitution, hardship and hunger

May 31, 2013   Carers, family, poverty, ukcuts

Half a million people in Britain rely on food banks

By: Information Daily Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, May 30, 2013 – 11:46 GMT

Huge cuts to welfare reform have left more than half a million people in Britain reliant on foodbanks to feed themselves or their family, a shocking report by a group of charities has revealed.

Church Action Poverty and Oxfam, with the backing of the Trussell Trust, are calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the relationship between benefit delay, error or sanctions, welfare reform changes and the growth of Britain’s ‘hidden hungry.’

“The shocking reality is that hundreds of thousands of people in the UK are turning to food aid. Cuts to social safety-nets have gone too far, leading to destitution, hardship and hunger on a large scale. It is unacceptable that this is happening in the seventh wealthiest nation on the planet,” said Mark Goldring, Oxfam’s CEO.

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Becoming a carer isn’t something you can prepare for

May 30, 2013   Carers

Volunteers give aid to carers at crucial time

 

6:00am Thursday 30th May 2013 in News Photograph of the Author

By Sally Clifford, T&A Reporter

It can happen to anyone at any time in their lives.

Becoming a carer isn’t something you can prepare for. Whether old age, illness or injury, the circumstances leading you to look after a loved one can change family life forever.

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‘Life as a carer can be a constant battle’

May 30, 2013   autism, Carers, epilepsy

‘Life as a carer can be a constant battle’

Thursday, May 30, 2013

By MICHELLE CHOW

HUSBAND and wife Stuart and Helen McIntosh are a couple who truly know the meaning of the vow ‘in sickness and in health’.

While Helen suffers from epilepsy, her husband Stuart is wheelchair-bound following a fall at work.

  1. CARERS: Stuart and Helen McIntosh. Picture: Chris Huthwaite

    CARERS: Stuart and Helen McIntosh. Picture: Chris Huthwaite

The Newcastle couple are not only carers for each other but also help to take care of their two sons, who have disorders on the Autism spectrum.

Now they have both been nominated for the Sentinel’s Our Heroes Awards in the Adult Carer of the Year category.

Stuart, aged 48, of Seabridge Lane, said: “I was working as a production manager for a pottery firm about 20 years ago when I fell and severely damaged my ankle.

“Because I couldn’t stand up for long periods, I got a job as a bus driver.

“However, in the end, I had to leave my job to look after Helen and the boys.

“Now, I help to look after her and she helps to look after me.

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