Who is a Carer?
A carer is someone, who, without payment, provides help and support to a partner, child, relative, friend or neighbour, who could not manage without their help. This could be due to age, physical or mental illness, addiction or disability.The term carer should not be confused with a care worker, or care assistant, who receives payment for looking after someone.
A young carer is a child or young person under the age of 18 carrying out significant caring tasks and assuming a level of responsibility for another person, which would normally be taken by an adult.
Anyone can become a carer; carers come from all walks of life, all cultures and can be of any age.
Many carers do not consider themselves to be a carer, they are just looking after their mother, son, or best friend, just getting on with it and doing what anyone else would in the same situation.
Carers don’t choose to become carers: it just happens and they have to get on with it – if they did not do it, who would and what would happen to the person they care for?
What is Carers’ Support (Bexley)?
We are a registered charity whose purpose is to provide information, support and breaks for carers. We aim always to be flexible and helpful, rather than expect carers to fit in with us. Naturally, there are certain procedures we need to follow (mainly to ensure the quality of our service), but we don’t have rules for the sake of them. All our services are free of charge. Because we are a charity, anyone who wishes to can apply to become a member of the organisation. Members will automatically receive an invitation to our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and a copy of our annual report.
What help can we offer carers?
- A breaks service – volunteers who come into your home and take over the caring so that you can go out, or even go away overnight or for a holiday (see our page on “Breaks for Carers” for more details)
- A Carers Information Pack, providing information about services for carers in Bexley Borough
- A quarterly newsletter to keep you up-to-date with new services, benefits information and other news. Download the latest issue here.
- A worker who can talk to you on the telephone and help to identify sources of local help.
- Advice about welfare benefits and help with completing claim forms. We can visit you at home to do this if you wish.
- Support for young carers via “Parents Power” – a support group for parents with disabilities and their children: www.parentspower.org.uk.
- An opportunity to have a say in local services through the Bexley Carers Network, an independent body of 15 carers, set up to represent the views of all carers in the borough.
- Volunteers who can offer emotional support and a listening ear for carers who are isolated.
- Support and information for stroke survivors and their carers.
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