Carers Week 2026💜

Mary_Scope

This week is Carers Week 2026 which is an annual national campaign dedicated to recognizing, celebrating and supporting the millions of unpaid carers across the UK.

This year’s campaign theme is "Building Carer Friendly Communities".

This means ensuring that everyday spaces such including GP surgeries, workplaces and schools etc understand the realities of caring and provide the flexibility and support carers need to be understood and supported.

How To Find Support For You As A Carer

• Discover Local Events
  Find activities, support groups, and information fairs near you using the Carers UK Activity Finder or checking with your local council.
  
• Access Resources
  Download free planning materials, posters and digital toolkits on the Carers Week Resources Page.
  
• Seek Advice
  Reach out to supporting charities like Macmillan Carers Week or the Carers Trust for specialized information and guidance.

Bluebell21

What is it like being a Carer?

Unless you have been a Carer you cannot know how draining, exhausting and frustrating it can be. It is the hardest job I have ever done.

There is no support in the Community and this needs to change. Part of that is the lack of flexibility not knowing from day to day whether your family member will be well enough on the day you have arranged to go out and meet other people. So no plans can be made in advance.

This has improved with Zoom meeting even for just a Cuppa Chat with the Carers Groups and helps to stay in touch with others when you are feeling isolated. Even though they have to be booked in advance they are easy to cancel.

You loose your own identity and become someone else's carer. You feel guilty for feeling this way. If you are caring for a family member you receive very little training and you are expected to manage as best you can.

It is not something you can ever be prepared for. On call 24 hours a day, always tired, some days on your knees.

Not only do you care for your family member but you also have to fight "The Powers That Be" for everything you need. From the best medication and equipment they need, to getting to see their consultant when they need them. It helps to know how the system works, which you do by trail and error and a lot of not accepting being fobbed off.

Having said all that I feel honoured that I was able to care for my daughter at home and learned how to do drips and get up at 2.00am every night to disconnect the drip and flush the line. I learned to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow even after breaks in sleep.

You make new friends at different hospital who understand what you are going through and you support each other.

Looking back I do not know how I kept going. But I would do it all again, if I could because I loved my daughter very much.

luvpink

I cared for a person who was an alcoholic for a year before he passed away.

His family and friends disowned him due to his drinking, lack of hygiene and he let his home become squalid.

It was a very sad state of affairs watching him fall into decline and lose his dignity and mobility.

My partner and I made meals for him, took him to doctors and hospital appointments.

I checked on him during the night and I had to call an ambulance a few times because the effects of alcoholism made it impossible to function, and it resulted in him needing medical treatment.

I wasn't well myself and my partner was working 30 hours a week.

It really took its toll on us.

It was physically demanding and draining.

We did all we could in an unofficial capacity.

We watched a proud man who was a retired police officer and a talented artist destroy himself and we were powerless to stop it.

I believe that when he passed away it was a blessing for him because was suffering both mentally and physically.

He was worn out and he told us that he was ready to go and rejoin his mother and his sister.

He believed in God and heaven.