New dementia advisory service launches in Wiltshire

Council and health bosses have launched a dementia advisory service in Wiltshire.

Funded by Wiltshire Council and the Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), the service will be available to people with dementia and their carers.

It will provide personalised information and guidance, and give people a named adviser to support them.

Full Article on Gazette & Herald

Cash-strapped carers turn to payday lenders

Carers struggling with the financial burden of caring for Britain’s elderly and disabled are increasingly turning to payday lenders, new research has shown.

The cost of care is causing serious hardship for 6.5 million households where there is a family carer.

These people are spending their savings and taking out payday loans to keep float, according to a report published by Scottish Widows think tank the Centre for Modern Family.

Full Article on Telegraph

Wiltshire reveals 19 per cent increase in adult carers

The number of adult carers over 25 in Wiltshire has risen by 19 per cent - significantly higher than the 10 per cent national average.

The 2001 Census stated there were 39,886 carers in Wiltshire and the 2011 Census states that they are now 47,608.

Carers are estimated to save the country more than £119 billion per year, yet many feel unsupported and reach crisis point, highlighting the importance of this issue for our society. 

Full Article on This is Wiltshire

INFO: Free training for Carers - June 2013

Looking to learn some new skills that may help you in your caring role?

We have lots of great training opportunities due to start in June 2013.

Download them now

Full training opportunities for the next few months are available on our website.

Carers putting their own health at risk, census shows

New analysis of the 2011 census from the Office for National Statistics shows a link between juggling a full-time job while caring for relatives and having deteriorating health.

It found that those who provide 50 hours or more care a week while trying to hold down a full time job are three times more likely themselves to be struggling with ill health than their working counterparts who are not carers.

The ONS said there appeared to be a “uniform pattern of deteriorating health” the more unpaid care people provide.

Full Article on Telegraph

Children are picking up the caring roles the state has abandoned

More of our children are caring for us than ever. The challenges that they face are shown in sharp relief by research published on Thursday by the Children's Society. Post-school they are twice as likely to be not in education or employment. One in 12 are caring for someone more than 15 hours per week. Around one in 20 misses school because of caring. These young people often say they've been bullied or have developed their own physical and emotional health problems.

The scale of the issue is huge. The 2011 census shows 178,000 young people under 18 looking after a friend or family member. This isn't the whole picture – we know far more go unidentified. When filling in the census, many parents simply don't recognise or want to say that their child is caring for them. BBC research in 2010 put the number at more like 700,000 in reality at that time.

Full Article on Guardian 

Census: 35% surge in the number of older carers

Almost 1.3 million (1,277,693)[1] older people are devoting their retirement to caring for ill partners or their own ageing parents. Census figures show that this is a staggering increase of 35% in the last ten years.

According to figures published today (16^th May 2013) by the Office for National Statistics, this army of ageing carers has rocketed by over a third in the last ten years. The number of older carers has risen more rapidly than the total number of carers – which has increased by 11 % to 6.5. million in the UK.

Read More on CarersUK