Special week of events to celebrate carers
Carers will have the chance to find out about what support is on offer to them at a special event in Norwich for Carers Week 2024.
The annual Care for Carers and Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) information day will be at Norwich Forum, 9am-3pm, on Monday 10 June.
The event will include around 50 stalls showcasing information and support designed to help carers of all ages. These will include Community Action Norwich, Wellbeing services, Carers Voice, Connect and Co, Green Light Trust, Tech Skills for Life and Arthritis Action.
NSFT will have stands covering participation, membership, perinatal, secure and forensic services and Recovery College.
Door to Door community transport services is offering help to people struggling to get to the event. Contact them via 01603 776735 or email bookings@norwichdoortodoor.org.uk.
It will be the first of several events during the week organised by NSFT for carers and staff, which also includes a carer-focused café meet-up and awareness sessions for staff. Carers leads are also using the week to reinforce the importance of the Carers Identity Passport, which is issued by Carers Voice Norfolk and Waveney.
The passport has been co-produced with carers and staff to ensure unpaid carers of all ages are identified and supported. Carers can register by completing a short form at carersvoice.org/carers-identity-passport or call 07932 095312.
The week in Suffolk will include a Coffee Crawl event aimed specifically at carers at
Moments Coffee Shop, Town Hall, Cornhill, Ipswich, on 12 June, 10.30am-12pm (PeopleParticipationEastSuf@nsft.nhs.uk), and carers representation at the Dementia Market Place at Trinity Park, Ipswich, on 13 June, 10am-4pm. ( Dementia Marketplace 2024 Tickets, Thu 13 Jun 2024 at 10:00 | Eventbrite )
The yearly Carers UK campaign highlights the challenges faced by carers and recognises their contribution within local communities and across the UK. This year’s theme is “putting carers on the map”.
Anyone who looks after a family member or friend who has a mental or physical illness, a disability, an addiction, or requires additional support as they age, is a carer.
Carer Lead Neil Broadway said: “These responsibilities can have a huge impact on the carer’s life.”
He said the move from ad-hoc help to carer can be subtle and people sometimes do not realise they have become an unpaid carer. “We also want to help people recognise this and to encourage them to reach out for help when they need it,” he said.
NSFT People Participation Co-ordinator Kelly Moulds, who works with the perinatal service, recently shared her experience with the NSFT board of juggling her role as a staff member and a carer for her dad, who lives with schizophrenia.
She said: “You come into work, leave the carers hat at the door and be a member of NSFT, but then having to very quickly leave the NSFT hat at the door and become a carer. On the run-up to his last admission that was quite a hard thing to navigate, swapping those hats really, really quickly.”
NSFT deputy CEO and chief people officer Cath Byford said: “Carers Week is a good way of focusing on the immense contribution unpaid carers make in our communities and what we can all do to help support them. But it’s not just about one week. This is something we need to concentrate on all year round to make our organisation a safer, kinder and better place for all those who use our services and the people who support them.”