Caring magazine 49 Caring July 2018 | Page 19

Connect with other carers: carersuk.org/forum Shopmobility scheme with no warning or consultation. More recently, I have been trying to raise awareness of the Weir Archer Academy, which has been set up by the Paralympian David Weir and his trainer Jenny Archer (photo above). Also coming up is some ‘fun’ work with the annual Rotary Dragon Boat Races in July, and so it goes on! I have cared at a distance for my large family over the years. I am like a ‘Meals on Wheels’ with a strong network of family to be back up if I’m not around. I have just returned @carersuk /carersuk from a family funeral; my cousin’s wife had cancer and her two children and their families were looking after mum in the terminal stages of her illness, as well as her husband who has Alzheimer’s. From experience, I know it’s going to get harder for them despite the three care assistants caring for him in his home. Post-funeral, there will come a time when the ‘local’ family will need a break or short holiday to allow them to draw breath and spend quality time together. So my caring role is often giving respite to the primary carer. As my cousin and I are contemporaries and attended the same schools, I shall offer to stay with him. Not a hard task, with three paid care assistants around. We shall have much to talk about, even if one of us cannot remember the conversation for too long. For the future? Well I shall be content if I can, in some small way, help other carers and young people in similar ways, using all the knowledge, skills and information I have accumulated over the years. 19