Calling all carers

There are over 32,500 identified carers in Sunderland, the City Council and its partners are keen to find out more about the experience of carers and the everyday challenges they face so that it can better support them.

The feedback from carers will be used to help shape how organisations across the city, including Sunderland Carers Centre, the VCS Alliance, Sunderland CCG, health, education and housing, coordinate and improve their provision for carers.

A carer can be anyone who provides support to family or friends who could find it difficult or unable to manage without this help. So it could be a spouse, partner, parent, sibling, child, friend or any other relation. Anybody from any background and of any age can be a carer and each carer's experience is unique to their own circumstances.

Just as the reasons why someone becomes a carer vary greatly, the range of tasks that a carer takes on can also be broad.

It can include practical tasks such as cooking, cleaning, washing up, ironing, and personal care such as helping someone with bathing, dressing and lifting, administering medication and collecting prescriptions.

But very often it will also involve offering emotional support such as listening, advocacy, problem solving, motivating and companionship, helping someone with their finances and paying bills.

Councillor Kelly Chequer, Sunderland City Council's Cabinet Member for Healthy City, said: "We know that some carers might not even recognise themselves as such, because they're helping provide support to a relative, partner or friend who is ill, frail or disabled. Or they might be helping someone who has mental health problems or issues with substance misuse.

"But I'd urge everyone who does help care for someone in any capacity, to let us know their experience of being a carer to help us identify how we can better help and support them.

"Anyone from any background and of any age can be a carer and their experience of being a carer is unique to them. We recognise the significant and vital contribution that all of our unpaid carers make to our city looking after family and friends.  We really value the amazing work that they do and we want to work with them to make sure that they have the right support in place to meet both their current and future needs.

"That's why we want to hear from carers across Sunderland so that we can make sure the right services are available and accessible for them at the right time. So I'd encourage anyone who is a carer to take a few minutes to complete this survey and tell us about their own experiences to help us make sure that we are meeting their needs."

The online Let's Talk Carers survey can be completed at: www.sunderland.gov.uk/letstalkcarers