News & campaigns
Carers Week highlights
This Carers Week we were thinking of ways
to help carers to be Healthy and Connected.
Activities took place all around the UK, from as
far apart as the Shetlands to the Isle of Wight.
Here’s a snapshot of what went on.
Over 1350 amazing events
and activities were registered
on the Carers Week website.
These included plenty of
activities which embraced
the Healthy and Connected
theme, including dance
classes, yoga taster sessions,
Nordic walking trips, as well as
health advice and information
for carers.
We published new research,
sharing the responses of
nearly 7000 current carers,
about the challenges carers
face in looking after their own
mental and physical wellbeing
and their concerns for their
ability to care in the future.
The research was widely
covered in the national,
regional and local media.
We’re still crunching the
numbers but expect to have
reached well over 100 million
people with messages about
Carers Week!
Raising awareness amongst politicians
and with national governments
We asked carers to get in
touch with their MPs to
ask them to come to our
Carers Week event and 500
of you did just that! Your
emails clearly worked as 85
parliamentarians including
6 Ministers took part in
the Carers Week “speed-
networking” event at
Westminster where MPs and
peers could talk to carers
and charity representatives.
This gave MPs from
different political parties
the opportunity to speak
directly with carers about
22
their experience of caring.
Caroline Dinenage MP,
Minister for Care, who
attended the event, also
answered your questions in
a Q&A takeover of the Carers
Week Twitter feed. In total,
well over 100 Members of
Parliament showed their
support including the Prime
Minister and the Leader
of the Opposition. Carers
Week was raised in Prime
Minister’s Questions and
in the Scottish Parliament
during First Minister’s
Questions.
In Northern Ireland a
Carers Week launch event,
at Stormont, hosted
by 2 Members of the
Legislative Assembly with
a carer speaking of her
experience of caring and
the importance of being
Healthy and Connected. In
Scotland, there was a flurry
of activity with 57 Members
of the Scottish Parliament,
including First Minister
Nicola Sturgeon, pledging
their support for carers to be
Healthy and Connected.
carersuk.org