Care for Carers provides a number of services for carers, from one-to-one support and assistance to short breaks and events within Edinburgh and further afield. Event schedules are announced throughout the year; the latest information is mailed out to members and published on this website along with updates to our online calendar.
Sometimes we all need to talk, but a caring role can be particularly overwhelming. There are times when carers need specialist one-to-one support: an ability to call upon someone who understands the nature of the caring situation in particular.
Any carer can email or call our phone lines to talk through a situation with a member of staff. Our phone lines are directly answered by members of staff, so carers are immediately connected to a someone who can talk to them there and then. Through our Carer Support Team, additional support can be offered through home visits — meeting face to face to support the carer to resolve any issues they are dealing with in person.
As a contracted member of the local Health & Social Care Partnership, Care for Carers is able to work on Adult Carer Support Plans with carers. These support plans allow carers to articulate their specific needs in order to continue with their caring role while also having a life outside of caring.
We can also support carers to complete Carer Emergency Plans. These hold all the information on family contacts, wishes for the carer and the cared for person, GP contacts and medical history — something extremely useful to have in place.
A summary of what we can offer:
Care for Carers creates numerous opportunites for carers to take a break from their caring situation — either by themselves or, occasionally, together with their cared-for person.
Our Stepping Out® Short Breaks programme provides breaks ranging from 1–4 nights which take place in venues and locations across Scotland, for carers to take time on their own away from their caring role. Time out and socialising is plentiful but there is always a programme of activities and events for carers to take part in on tap.
Meanwhile, our Still Caring programme takes the form of seasonal calendars of events incorporating day and evening activities. There are opportunities to learn something new, socialise and have fun with others.
We explore the cultural, artistic and natural aspects of life in and around Edinburgh, and there is a full range of online and in-person meeting options. Some Still Caring events may be open to the carer and the cared-for person to come together.
Details on all our programmes can be found here; our combined calendar of events is here.
In response to carer feedback and requests, we hold a number of information workshops and other sessions each year. These cover a range of areas, from legal advice to art workshops.
Over the course of the year these additional activities and events are publicised in our Carers Newsletter and appear in our Still Caring programmes. If we run a workshop and there is high demand for places, we endeavour to repeat it again as soon as possible — so it is always worth signing up for something you are interested in.
Care for Carers produces regular Carers Newsletters through the year. The number produced is dependent on the information needs of carers, but is never less than six newsletters annually.
Our newsletters contain our latest service information, but also include links and updates from services across the city. Carers tell us it is an up-to-date, interesting and useful tool for them to have. Additional information from other providers and sectors is frequently sent out along with the newsletter. All carer newsletters and information leaflets can be accessed online, by email or by post; whichever the carer prefers.
In order to receive the Carer Newsletter and any additional information you just need to sign up for membership of Care for Carers.
Please fill in your full name and email address along with your enquiry and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
