One of my passions is to increase awareness of and support to informal carers.
Carers are family members (or friends) who provide care to someone suffering from an illness or disability. They are unpaid. Carers do this from a sense of duty and obligation but more importantly from a sense of love for the person they look after.
Although awareness of the needs of carers has increased in the last 30 years there is still a great deal of ignorance about how much care is provided by carers and how little support they receive. The word ‘carer’ did not even appear in English dictionaries before 1970.
It is estimated that unpaid Carers in the UK save the Government about £57 billion per year. I have often said that if carers withdrew their labour today the Government would be bankrupt immediately. At this emotional time of the year I hope we can all stop and think for a moment about carers.
It would be great if readers of Simplicity Blog would point friends and colleagues to the Carers UK Web Site http://www.carersuk.org/Home/ and spend a little time reading some of the information.
These words were written by a carer in a newsletter I received recently - pretty powerful I think;
Carers Wish List
I wish:
I could watch a television programme all the way through
I could go to bed when I want to and sleep through the night
I could get up when I want to
I could do something on the spur of the moment
I didn’t have to watch the clock for tablets and toileting
I didn’t have to worry all the time about the person I care for
I wish things could be as they were.
Thanks to Chris Young, caring for her husband.
Carers are family members (or friends) who provide care to someone suffering from an illness or disability. They are unpaid. Carers do this from a sense of duty and obligation but more importantly from a sense of love for the person they look after.
Although awareness of the needs of carers has increased in the last 30 years there is still a great deal of ignorance about how much care is provided by carers and how little support they receive. The word ‘carer’ did not even appear in English dictionaries before 1970.
It is estimated that unpaid Carers in the UK save the Government about £57 billion per year. I have often said that if carers withdrew their labour today the Government would be bankrupt immediately. At this emotional time of the year I hope we can all stop and think for a moment about carers.
It would be great if readers of Simplicity Blog would point friends and colleagues to the Carers UK Web Site http://www.carersuk.org/Home/ and spend a little time reading some of the information.
These words were written by a carer in a newsletter I received recently - pretty powerful I think;
Carers Wish List
I wish:
I could watch a television programme all the way through
I could go to bed when I want to and sleep through the night
I could get up when I want to
I could do something on the spur of the moment
I didn’t have to watch the clock for tablets and toileting
I didn’t have to worry all the time about the person I care for
I wish things could be as they were.
Thanks to Chris Young, caring for her husband.
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