Catch Up on Carers Week

Jun 19, 2020

On Monday we joined the rest of the Carers Team in their online Care For a Cuppa Event. It was a fantastic moment to share the different events that members of the organisation were getting up to as part of Carers Week.

We also came out in support of Phoenix Group, who are one of our Carer Positive Exemplary Employers, as they called for the Government to accelerate legislation to provide greater support for employed carers. Andy Briggs, Chief Executive Phoenix Group and Government Business Champion for Older Workers explained:

Employed carers should not have to decide between continuing to work and caring for loved ones. Just like working parents, working carers face ongoing challenges as a result of their commitments and need specific support. As we recognise the important role of all carers this national Carers Week and the additional pressure many face due to the pandemic, we call on the Government to accelerate legislation on statutory leave for those carers who want to continue to work, while caring for someone who depends on them.

Read the full press release here on the Phoenix Group website.

Wednesday was our Virtual Employers Event where we were joined by Helen Walker from Carers UK for a welcome message before Carer Positive’s own Sue McLintock gave a brief overview of our recent report which was based on the survey we conducted among Carer Positive Employers to understand how they are dealing with the changes caused by coronavirus. If you missed the report last week, you can catch up here.

 Following this, several representatives from Carer Positive Organisations - including Phoenix Group, Strathclyde and St Andrews Universities, Bon Accord Care, Audit Scotland, North Ayrshire Council, Befriending Networks Scotland and Registers of Scotland - shared their experiences. The event went really well and gave us some valuable insights into how we might run similar events more regularly going forward. A huge thankyou to all of our speakers and everyone involved in making it happen.

Presenting Carer Positive awards during Carers Week always feels extra special so we were delighted to be able to do this on Thursday. FDAMH joined us for an online presentation via zoom where we were able to (digitally) hand over their certificate and discuss their work in creating a Carer Positive working environment during Covid-19 and beyond. Huge congratulations again!