York Carers Centre News

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1 York Carers Centre or York Carers Centre News Winter 2015 Issue 73 Looking after someone? Know your rights York Carers Centre is one of hundreds of organisations across the UK taking part in Carers Rights Day a national awareness day organised by the charity Carers UK. The aim of the day is to reach out to the 6.5 million people in the UK who care for an older, seriously-ill or disabled loved one, informing them of the rights, benefits and services they are entitled to. This year Carers Rights Day is on Friday 20 November but we will be celebrating early on Tuesday 17 November, hosting a day at New Earswick Folk Hall. The day will feature games and activities, such as curling and bingo, and lunch will be provided. There will be a range of advice, information and speakers, including Be Independent who will be talking about their equipment and services. For more information or to book your place, please phone or enquiries@yorkcarerscentre.co.uk. Dads care too A new report and a father s story on page 3 Carer s Credit Find out what you are entitled to on page 4 Jumbulance Trust on page 11 1

2 How is your quality of life? Back in July 2014 we sent out a questionnaire called the Adult Carer Quality of Life (AC-QOL) to all of our adult carers. Almost 500 carers returned the completed questionnaire, which is a fantastic response! As you can imagine, it has taken us a while to work through the questionnaires and analyse the responses, but now we would like to share some of the findings. Of all the carers who responded, 17% had a low quality of life, 63% had a medium quality of life and 30% had a high quality of life. 72% of the carers who completed the questionnaire were female (28% male) reflecting that there are more recognised female than male carers. Interestingly, males were found to have a higher quality of life than females on average. The average age of the carers who responded was 63 years and unlike gender, there was no link between age and quality of life. The AC-QOL has 8 different sections which are added together to give a total score. The sections are: Support for Caring, Caring Choice, Caring Stress, Money Matters, Personal Growth, Sense of Value, Ability to Care and Carer Satisfaction. It was found that overall carers had the lowest scores in relation to Support for Caring and the highest for Ability to Care. The AC-QOL project is invaluable in allowing us to identify carers who may be struggling and need extra support. A carer support worker from York Carers Centre has been in contact with every carer who was found to have a low quality of life through the AC-QOL to ensure they are getting the support they require. Every new carer is now sent an AC-QOL when they register with us to help us understand which parts of the caring role carers may be struggling with and to provide the most appropriate support. If you have any questions about the survey please contact carer support worker Helen Mayor on New newsletter In the new year we will be trying a new newsletter format and changing it to an A5 document. If you are happy to receive the newsletter by instead of post please let us know on enquiries@yorkcarerscentre.co.uk or

3 Dads care too A hidden army of dads are not only caring for their sick or disabled child but also for another family member or friend, a survey by Carers Trust and the Men s Health Forum reveals. The study showed that 46% of the men surveyed were not only caring for a young or adult child, but were also caring for their wives or partners, their own parents or more than one of their children, according to their joint report Dads Care Too. The charities say this is just a drop in the ocean and that many unpaid male carers are still unidentified and unsupported. They say more help and support is needed to help dads who are carers continue to carry out their demanding and often gruelling role. The dads said they needed support too and called for their roles to be recognised and for them to be included in networks and activities in the same way as mothers. They also urged employers to adopt and publicise carer-friendly employment policies to encourage better understanding of dads who care. For more information on the study please visit Leigh s story Father-of-three Leigh cares for his daughter, 15-year-old Lucy. Lucy uses a wheelchair and can t sit up unaided. Her speech is limited and she also has cerebral palsy and epilepsy. She sleeps very little, so Leigh is often up with her during the night trying to comfort her and sitting with her while she watches movies. He washes, dresses and feeds her with specially prepared food. She needs to be hoisted and log-rolled and to be moved around to make her more comfortable. He also gives her her medication. Lucy had spinal surgery which has helped to ease her condition. Leigh, who gave up his job in bar management 11 years ago, in order to care for his family, is supported by York Carers Centre where he has regular meet ups and has attended a first-aid course. He said: It s great to have my voice heard rather than just being seen as Lucy s carer. I get to be Leigh the dad, not Leigh the carer. When I tell some people that I care for my daughter it is a conversation stopper or all they want to do is talk about your caring role. Being a part of the group gives me a chance to speak to others in a similar position. 3

4 Priority in a powercut Did you know you could sign up for extra help and assistance in a power cut if you are vulnerable? Northern Powergrid are in charge of electricity in Yorkshire and the Northeast. If you, or the person you care for, are vulnerable and rely on electricity for medical or communication needs, then you can sign up to their Priority Service. It is a free service that will mean you get extra support and assistance during a powercut. For more information or to register for the service visit or phone If you are hard of hearing then phone The Herbert Protocol The Herbert Protocol is a simple risk reduction tool to be used in the event of a person with Dementia or other mental vulnerability going missing. It consists of a form that contains vital information about a person at risk that can be passed to the police if the person is reported missing. A recent photograph of the person should also be kept with the form. It can be downloaded from Carer s Credit The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have revealed that 95% of carers who are entitled to Carer s Credit are not claiming it. Carers UK are encouraging carers to get in touch and find out what support is available to them. The Carer s Credit helps build the National Insurance contributions of those who have taken time away from work to care for loved ones. Nearly 200,000 people who care for a disabled, seriously-ill or older loved one, who are not entitled to Carer s Allowance (the main benefit for carers), could receive a boost to their pension by claiming Carer s Credit. Taking up Carer s Credit for a year means a carer could receive over 200 extra per year in State Pension when they retire. Women in their 50s are particularly likely to be amongst those missing out. There is more information on the Carers UK website For advice on benefits you can contact York Carers Centre advice worker Andrew Davies on It is not intended to replace existing safeguarding and security measures. 4

5 Help fight the flu this winter From Carers Trust With winter fast approaching many of us will be thinking about having a flu jab. Flu can strike at any time and can make you feel pretty awful. It can leave you bed-ridden and unable to function for several days. If you are a carer it s even more important to think about being vaccinated. Flu often strikes out of the blue, leaving you with little or no time to organise alternative care. It can also be distressing - and sometimes dangerous - for a vulnerable person who is suddenly left without support. And of course, carers who aren t vaccinated are more likely to pass the virus on to the person they care for. GP practices have been offering free NHS flu vaccinations to carers for a number of years. Starting this autumn, many community pharmacies are able to provide free NHS flu vaccinations to carers as well, if the carer is aged 18 and over and the main carer (including those in receipt of Carer s Allowance) of an older or disabled person whose welfare would be at risk if the carer was ill. With fewer than one in ten carers receiving a flu jab last year, it is hoped that offering busy carers the option of having a flu jab while they re waiting to collect someone s prescription or speak to the pharmacist will result in more carers being vaccinated. So, if you are a carer and haven t had your flu jab yet, either contact your GP practice or visit your local pharmacy and ask whether they are offering the service. Carer awareness online training Did you know York Carers Centre has a series of online training courses? We have three courses designed to raise awareness and understanding about young carers, young adult carers, and adult carers. The aim is to help professionals become more aware about carers and their needs, so they can offer more support in their day to day work. Although aimed at professionals, anyone can do these free online courses but you do need to register by giving some information about yourself. Once you have finished a course you can print out a certificate. The courses can be found at 5

6 Since the last newsletter there have been the usual groups, along with some sessions run by Christine Bailey and lots of other workshops or courses funded by the small grants fund. We have held some Britain s Best Breakfast events (there will be more about these in the next newsletter) and had 2 wonderful spa days. Carers enjoyed a trip to York Bird of Prey Centre well worth a visit. The guided tour and flying demo are fantastic. Training We have delivered training and talks for a wide range of professionals and would like to thank those carers who have helped with delivering this; your stories are always the most important part. New Earswick group We have had some interesting and varied activities over the past few weeks at the Folk Hall, with some great feedback from carers about how much they enjoyed these sessions. We have had City of York Council s (CYC) Older People s Activity Officers, Megan Hale and Chris Yates bring along a selection of equipment to try such as curling, boccia and table top hand cycles. Everyone had fun giving these activities a go the curling was a real hit! CYC have now loaned us a curling set to use at events and groups. We have also had sessions on Mindfulness run by Mark Willis from Mind. This was a really good opportunity for carers to think about taking time for themselves in their busy caring schedules. Coming up over the next few months we have more activities booked including crafts and an ipad session. For a copy of the activity timetable for the group, please contact Helen on or helen.mayor@yorkcarerscentre.co.uk. Christmas dinner Adult carers update On Tuesday 15 December York Carers Centre invite you to a Christmas dinner at the New Earswick Folk Hall at 12noon. It is open to all adult carers, and cared for are welcome. People are asked to pay 5 towards the cost of the 3 course meal. Please book your place through enquiries@yorkcarerscentre.co.uk or Keep up to date with York Carers Centre Follow us on Twitter on 6

7 York Mental Health Carers group This group continues to run in partnership with Rethink Mental Illness- York group and York Mind. By the time this newsletter goes to print we will have held our conference about Bootham Park Hospital and hope to be helping carers to have their say on the future of provision in York. If you would like a copy of the report please look on our website or sharron.smith@yorkcarerscentre.co.uk. The group continues to meet monthly on the second Wednesday of every month, though our December event will be a joint social event with York Mind carers peer support group. See the calendar of events for details. Thinking Ahead group We are looking to increase our numbers for this group and welcome carers of children or adult children with learning disabilities who are wanting to plan ahead for the future. We have had speakers from Yorkshire Housing, Avalon, United Response Care Providers and Roger Dixon from Hague and Dixon Solicitors. He gave a fantastic talk on legal issues when planning ahead for the future of disabled children/adult and gave people the opportunity to ask individual questions. For more information or to attend, please contact Helen on Something for Everyone The sessions at Tesco s Community Room are going well. They are primarily attended by substance misuse carers but we would like to encourage all carers to attend. Recently there have been sessions with nutritionist Sally Duffin, counsellor Christine Bailey and Magnetic Arts. Please see the calendar of events for forthcoming activities. If you are interested to hear more please contact the office on or enquiries@yorkcarerscentre.co.uk. Painting during the Magnetic Art sessions Please let us know if your details change. Call us on or enquiries@yorkcarerscentre.co.uk 7

8 Substance misuse update Substance misuse carers have enjoyed some Time Out With Horses sessions in addition to our regular groups. These were much enjoyed by all. Substance misuse carers have also worked with STRETCH charity to create their own very powerful digital stories. These can be viewed on the substance misuse page on our website New group A new support group has been set up for anyone caring for a child under 5 who is affected by someone else s drink or drug use. The group meets on Mondays at 12noon to 2pm at Clifton Children s Centre, Kingsway North, York, YO30 6JA. Support for bereavement If you have lost someone through substance misuse or addiction and are interested in attending a support group, please contact Sam. Substance Misuse support groups, guest speakers, peer support and pampering sessions continue to be available. For more details on any of these activities or groups listed please contact Sam Ferguson on or Samantha.ferguson@yorkcarerscentre.co.uk. Remember you can also follow us on or find us on Facebook to keep up to date. 8

9 Young adult carers update We have had an incredibly busy summer and autumn. This has included two residentials, our first young adult carers with children trip, freshers fairs, college and university drop-ins, support nights, an activity with Leeds Young Adult Carers and much more. Some YACs left York to study in places including Manchester, London and Lancaster. Going away to university can be a challenging time for any young person, not to mention those with caring responsibilities. To help with this, we continue to offer support to our young adult carers while they are away, as well as linking them in with their new local carers centres where possible. We also had some significant staff changes - Hayley (the former Lead Young Adult Carer Support Worker) has left York Carers Centre to become a midwife! Jess has taken on her role, and has been joined by our new recruit, Rosie Smithells, for 10 hours a week. Looking ahead, we plan to have some more tailored support groups, looking at key issues that impact the lives of young adult carers. These will include sessions such as finances and relationships. We are also developing our partnership work with agencies across the city. The Network - for organisations working with this age group - has been re-established and will hopefully strengthen links and cohesive working across the city. For more information on anything we do, contact Jess on YACs climbing high and eating out at Centre Parcs Young carers update Young Carers have had a busy few months, starting a new school year and going on lots of trips and activities. We have been terrified at York Dungeons, exhausted ourselves mountain biking at York University and had a feast at Frankie and Benny s to celebrate the Carers Trust Britain s Best Breakfast campaign. Kind donations have been received from York Minster and St Chad s Church and young carers at Millthorpe School have held a cake sale and done a sponsored walk. Funds raised will go towards an ice skating trip just before Christmas. For more information on the Young Carers Service please contact Liz on

10 Donations and thankyous Once again we would like to say thank you for all the donations we have received recently; they are really appreciated. Tescos and Spurriergate Centre have been very generous in providing food for Best Breakfast events, and continuing to provide venues for our groups so thank you to them. A massive thank you is owed to Jane and Marty Nordli who have run the York 10k and the Great North Run to raise approximately 800 for York Carers Centre. Jane says Marty and I were desperate for help and support during a very dark time with Sam. Their [York Carers Centre] support and advice was invaluable and we are sure that without them our family would still be in turmoil. Marty and I are running the Great North Run so we can give something back to this fantastic charity. For more information on how to donate please visit our website Memory Matters Alzheimer s Society, The Retreat, Explore York and City of York Council have created a new group for people with dementia and their carers. It aims to improve understanding around dementia through providing up-to-date and relevant information, to provide opportunities for people with dementia and their carers to talk to different professionals and to find out about local and national services that might be of help The group will meet near the main reception desk in York Explore Library, 11.00am to 1.00pm on the second Monday of the month. The session on 8 February is specific to support for carers. They are drop in information sessions, so there is no need to book. For more information please phone Carers Café at Spurriergate The last carers café of the year will be held on 2 December Please note there will be no Carers Café in January The first date for the café in the new year will be on 3 February There is no need to book and the person you care for is welcome. The venue is accessible and free refreshments are provided. The Carers Café is held at the Spurriergate Centre, York, YO1 9QR from 10 to 11.30am. 10

11 The Jumbulance Trust Written by Christine Chisholm -Trustee for Jumbulance Trust and Nurse Group Leader North Yorkshire Jumbulance Group. The Jumbulance Trust is a small national charity that takes sick and disabled people on holidays and pilgrimages in the UK and Europe using fully accessible hotels. We have 2 Jumbulances, one based in the south and one in the north of England, that are part coach part ambulance and registered as ambulances. They have a combination of reclining seats and wheelchair placements (or beds). They also have a fully accessible toilet/washbasin, a kitchen with sink, cooker, microwave and fridge and ample storage for luggage and wheelchairs. We carry a hoist, comode and bed aids. The sick and disabled people we take are called VIPs. If the family can't supply a carer or nurse we will provide one if we can. All holiday groups will have at least one trained volunteer nurse and where needed a doctor. We are fully aware of the need for respite breaks. Each VIP is visited at home by a nurse to be sure we can replicate your care needs on holiday. They are also asked to fill in a medical/care needs questionnaire. We fundraise each year and subsidise the cost of the holiday. If a family member or friend comes as a carer we will only charge them half price for the holiday, like the volunteer helpers and nurses. If they just wish to accompany the VIP but not do the care they will have to pay the full price. If the carer prefers to have a holiday we can provide the care and companionship. Insurance is offered to VIPs for 48 through the Jumbulance Trust. The North Yorkshire Jumbulance group was set up 3 years ago and since then we have been to Llandudno in Wales, Nairn in Scotland and this year Holland. In 2016 we are going back to Llandudno to a fully accessible hotel with evening entertainment. We will have trips every day and an evening theatre trip. The cost is initially 800 for VIPs and 400 for carers and volunteer helpers and nurses. If we raise more then 5,000 each year we can offer a further subsidy. Dates are Thursday 28 April to Thursday 5 May to include the Victorian Extravaganza over May Bank Holiday. These holidays are great fun and fill quickly so do get in touch on answer phone or mobile We are also always looking for new volunteer nurses and helpers. Visit our website for the latest news and events 11

12 Christmas opening hours York Carers Centre will close at 5pm on Wednesday 23 December 2015 and will reopen at 9am on Monday 4 January We will not be checking our answer machine or s during this period. If you need urgent help when we are closed: Adults should get in touch with City of York Council s Customer Access & Assessment Team on or adult.socialsupport@york.gov.uk Children and young people should get in touch with City of York Council s Advice, Assessment & Early Intervention Service on or childrensfrontdoor@york.gov.uk If these teams are unavailable contact the Emergency Duty Team on Please ring us on if you need a large print version of this newsletter Contact us between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Thursday us: enquiries@yorkcarerscentre.co.uk Visit our website: Follow us on Twitter: We are based near Micklegate in York at 17 Priory Street, York, YO1 6ET registered charity number registered company number York Carers Centre is an independent charity that helps unpaid carers in York find the support they need. We are a network partner of Carers Trust. 12