Speaker Meeting (Zoom), 6pm

In June 2020 Rotary in Great Britain & Ireland and Carers UK announced a 12 month partnership with the aim of improving support for the UK’s millions of unpaid carers and the challenges they face caring for loved ones on an everyday basis. In June 2020 Rotary in Great Britain & Ireland and Carers UK announced a 12 month partnership with the aim of improving support for the UK’s millions of unpaid carers and the challenges they face caring for loved ones on an everyday basis.

Our speaker at this meeting was Rotarian Linda Clarke who has taken on the lead role for this partnership in our Rotary District.

With a slideshow presentation Linda told us that there are 6.5 million carers in the UK today, that’s 1 in 8 adults. She said a carer is anyone who takes on an unpaid role to care for a family member or friend with a disability, or an illness, or someone who needs support to manage a life of their own. Typically, 50% of carers take a year to recognise that they actually are a carer. Nationally, these unpaid carers save the state a total of £1.32 billion a year.

During the current Covid-19 pandemic carers are finding they have to provide much more care and support and one of the top challenges they face is the negative impact on the cared for person’s physical and mental health.

As the UK’s national membership charity for carers, Carers UK is both a supportive community and a movement for change. It connects carers so no-one has to care alone. It provides information, advice and support. It campaigns for lasting change and is constantly looking for new ways to support carers.

It improves the lives of unpaid carers by providing advice, information and support. It has been at the forefront of the carers movement for over 50 years. It builds research to influence and change policy to improve carers rights.

The Carers UK helpline is open from 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The telephone number is 0808 808 7777. Alternatively the email address is advice@carersuk.org

The partnership with Rotary aims to increase awareness and connect with carers and increase its membership. Rotary Clubs are asked to reach out to unpaid carers by means of research, written articles, distribution of flyers, hosting talks, doing social media campaigns, and by talking to employers. It may be that many Rotarians are actually carers themselves. And Rotarians can sign up as Carers UK Ambassadors.

More information
Carers UK Website
Carers UK/Rotary Leaflet
Rotary website Carers UK partnership