Carers Week 2015 – working carers focus

Carers Week 2015 is running from 8th to 14th June.

Carers Week 2015 will focus on supporting working carers. An estimated 3 million workers also act as unpaid carers to relatives and friends.

Carers Week is a campaign held every year to raise awareness of the work that volunteer carers do and the challenges they face. It is a celebration of the support carers give to their families and their communities throughout the UK.

The theme of the campaign this year is building Carer Friendly Communities.

There are estimated to be 6.5 million carers in the UK. Very many carers receive little support from their communities and their valuable work often goes unnoticed except by those they help.

Carer Friendly Communities are communities that show awareness of the needs of unpaid carers and reach out to them to be more supportive.

During the week the campaign will focus on a different issue each day.

Focus on working carers during Carers Week

On 11th June the campaign focus is on working carers. Juggling work and the role of a carer can place enormous strain on individuals and their families.

One of the aims of Carers Week this year is to raise awareness of the needs of working carers and encourage employers and co-workers to be more supportive.

Many employers have become more aware of the issue in recent years but are still failing to provide supportive working environments simply through a lack of understanding of carers needs. That’s where we can help.

Our training for businesses helps carers and employers

We offer training courses and presentations to help employers and co-workers explore the issues affecting working carers and learn how to put in place effective ways to support their colleagues who have duel responsibility of caring and working.

Our courses help:

• employers understand their legal responsibilities
• businesses recognise the benefits of supporting working carers
• co-workers identify how they can be more supportive
• companies put in place systems to build the confidence of working carers

According to the Carers Week charity

“The peak age for carers is 45-64, a point where carers have hugely valuable skills and experience. Their exit from the labour market leaves businesses with substantial productivity loss and recruitment costs”.

At its worst an employer’s failure to support working carers could be a breach of their legal responsibilities. But in most cases employers know that the loss of millions of skilled, experienced workers who give up working or fail to progress their careers because of the pressures they face, is not good for individual businesses or the economy as a whole and would like to do something about it.

Our short training courses can be delivered in-house or at a suitable venue to groups of up to 30 individuals. Read more about our services for businesses here 

Making a pledge in Carers Week

The Carers’ Week campaign is backed by 6 of the UK’s leading charities: Carers UK, Carers Trust, Independent Age, Age UK, Multiple Sclerosis Society and Macmillan Cancer Support.

Carers Week is asking everyone to make a pledge during Carers Week to contribute in some way to the building of Carer Friendly Communities. Individuals and business are being encouraged to pledge to do something, no matter how small to be supportive.

At Barker Evans we have pledged to raise awareness of Carers Week through social media and other channels, so why not follow us on Twitter, Facebook, G+ and LinkedIn and help us to spread the word.

Free guide for carers during Carers Week

We’ve also got an eight page information booklet produced specially for Carers Week that we’re giving away free to anyone who is new to being a carer or just wants more information on how to get more help. Just subscribe to our newsletter during Carers Week and we’ll send a copy to you. Complete the subscription form below and we’ll rush you your free information booklet.

And why not go to the the Carers Week website and make a pledge yourself. Get involved.

Get your free carer’s guide

By Rosamund Evans. Follow on Google+