Carers Week 2020

This week is Carers Week 2020 and aims to thank and celebrate carers around the UK. Read more about the week below:

There have been several campaigns recently celebrating or thanking essential workers or volunteers, from Volunteers Week last week to Neighbourhood Watch Week this week and Carers Week is no different with carers playing a vital role in this time of crisis.

There are 6.5 million carers in the UK and more than 63,000 in Gloucestershire (Gloucestershire County Council) but it is estimated that 4.5 million additional people were caring for older, disabled or seriously ill relatives or friends since the Covid-19 pandemic (Carers UK). These statistics alone show how important it is to recognise and raise awareness of the effort that carers go through every day.

The theme this year is ‘Making Carers Visible’ because the majority of care provided is by informal carers in people’s home and is generally invisible to the wider public. The huge contribution that carers make sadly goes unnoticed with three in four carers feeling their care work is misunderstood and undervalued.

This week hopes to help change this and help recognise and value the work of carers. There are a number of ways you can educate yourself and get involved.

 

Gloucestershire County Council

The County Council have published the ways they are supporting carers, including quotes from Cllr Kathy Williams, cabinet member for adult social care at Gloucestershire County Council. You can read that by clicking here.

 

Add your voice

You can virtually ‘add your voice’ to the conversation and show your support for carers in the UK and Gloucestershire. Click here to do this.

 

Carers Week Activities

As you’d expect there are no physical activities taking place this year, however, many virtual sessions are being listed. You can browse these here and even add your own.