Gloucester Carers

CARERS GLOUCESTERSHIRE

At our meeting on Wednesday 31^st May Jane Stanfield, Carers Gloucestershire’s Carer Services Manager, gave the club a very interesting and informative talk about the work of the charity and how its helps carers and those for whom they care.

In June this year Carers Gloucestershire celebrate 25 years of supporting unpaid carer - it can be isolating and exhausting being a carer. They are an independent charity supporting carers so that they do not have to face the challenges of caring alone by offering a diverse range of services delivered   by a team of fully trained committed staff.

They have advisers locally based in several different districts of Gloucestershire (Cheltenham, Cinderford, Cirencester, Stroud, Tewkesbury & Gloucester) that can help. There are over 63,000 carers in Gloucestershire many of whom didn’t plan to be a carer - it just happened. Many carers also have to cope with problems of their own. Jane told us that three out of every five people will be a carer at some point in their life! There are many men who are carers as well as women.

Research has shown that talking a break from caring can be extremely beneficial either on their own or as a family. Day trips have been arranged to places like Kew Gardens, Blenheim Palace, Bristol Hippodrome and on the Willow Trust boat. These can make the difference between carers coping and suffering from a breakdown themselves.

There were many questions asked and as a result of Jane’s visit we are even more knowledgeable about the work of carers and the problems of those for whom they care.

The club also presented Jane, on behalf of Carers Gloucestershire, with a cheque for £250 part of the money raised during their Carol Float collections in 2016.

Adrian Hale