Tag Archives: carers

My dual role as a social worker and carer

June 22, 2012   Carers, social workers

Carers want to be listened to and understood

 

Sometimes sitting down for a coffee or tea with carers listening to their experiences is a good way to support them.

I have been a social worker for four years, but I have also been a carer for many years.

Many carers provide inspirational support to their friends, loved ones and family members. Fellow professionals and informal carers are among the most dedicated people I have ever met.

Part of my working role is to provide support to those who care for others; this often entails providing information and advice, as well as offering a listening ear. In my experience it is the listening that carers value the most; many find themselves socially isolated due to their circumstances and just want someone to talk to who can understand their situation.

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It helped to realise we were not alone

June 22, 2012   Alzheimer’s, Carers

THE strains of being a carer fall to many people as an elderly parent reaches infirmity, just at the time they’re supposed to be taking things a little easier themselves.

Friday, June 22, 2012

For Yvonne and Geoff Daniell, it came as the Whitchurch couple were preparing to take retirement in April 2010.

They found themselves faced with the responsibility for caring for Yvonne’s mother Ellen, 91, as she was gradually overcome with dementia.

Visits became necessary three or four times a day, with Yvonne’s chores including bathing her mother, shopping, cooking and dressing her.

By the time 68-year-old Yvonne was referred to the Carers’ Support Centre for Bristol, she says she was close to suffering a nervous breakdown herself.

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Gift Aid on small cash donations

June 21, 2012   Carers, charities

2 hours ago

Charities will benefit from Gift Aid on small cash donations under plans published by the Government.

Donations of £20 or less will be boosted by an extra 25p per pound, increasing funding by about £100 million each year by 2015-2016.

Proposals are designed to stop organisations losing out when people contribute to bucket collections and do not fill out Gift Aid declarations.

The current scheme provides more than £1 billion in additional income for the charitable sector.

Introducing this new scheme will see a big jump in the amount that charities can raise.

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