Help for new carers

Carers UK launches new booklet for first-time carers. An essential new booklet to help those who have recently become a carer is published on Thursday 7 June by Carers UK.

Timed to coincide with Carers Week, which is taking place from 11-17 June 2007, New to caring contains advice from experienced carers and covers all the basics that one needs to know about the financial, practical and emotional aspects of caring – and the range of help available.

Each year in the UK, a staggering 2.3 million people – that is 6,000 people a day – become a carer, finding themselves providing unpaid care to a loved one who is frail, ill or disabled. One in five is forced to give up work in order to provide the care needed. Many become isolated and do not know where to turn for help. Some even lose their homes trying to make ends meet.

New to caring is a straight-forward and friendly booklet designed to reassure new carers and prepare them for the challenges that may lie ahead. It is intended as a first step to finding out what help is available and contains sections on: 

• the emotional impact of being a carer
• managing financial pressures
• looking after one’s own health
• practical help – obtaining equipment, making adaptations to home and organising respite breaks
• benefits and entitlements
• employment and support at work
• making time for oneself
• preparing for the future

The booklet carries an entertaining foreword by Hugh Marriott, the well-known author of ‘The Selfish Pig’s Guide to Caring’, whose wife Cathie has Huntington’s disease. Hugh understands only too well the emotions, the battles and the rewards of caring and the time it takes to even recognise oneself as a carer.

The booklet concludes with handy contact details of other sources of information and help.

Imelda Redmond, Chief Executive of Carers UK, says:

“Recent research by Carers UK shows that caring hits hard in the first year. Over a lifetime, seven out of 10 women and nearly six out of 10 men will become carers yet it remains one of those things people don’t talk about. New carers, understandably, struggle to cope with the changes at home and at work, which can have serious knock-on effects on income, independence and quality of life. An incredible £740 million of benefits for carers goes unclaimed partly because of a lack of clear information.

We are grateful to those carers of many years’ experience who contributed so much to this booklet helping new carers find their way.”

To order or download a copy, please visit www.carersuk.org or telephone 0845 241 0963.