Caring for Carers project launches resource to help and support

 

Carers who have helped design and develop a resource for people with caring responsibilities have been celebrated at the launch event of the project. 

 

Rebecca Evans, Minister for Social Services and Public Health, launched the Marie Curie Taking Care/Cymryd Gofal project at Penarth Pier Pavilion. 

 

The Minister said:  “I commend both Marie Curie and the carers of loved ones living with a terminal illness in developing Taking Care/Cymryd Gofal.

 “By developing a resource which recognises the practical, physical and emotional demands of the caring role, they have provided a tool which can empower family and friends to deal with these demands, while continuing to support loved ones when they need it most.” 

Marie Curie provides expert care and support to those living with terminal illness, their carers and families. 

The resource – Taking Care/Cymryd Gofal – is part of a three year Caring for Carers project taking place at Marie Curie, funded by Big Lottery Fund. 

Gaynor Richards MBE, Wales committee member of Big Lottery, said: “We are delighted to be able to support such a great project that, having spoken to some carers, already is making a real difference to their lives. 

“It’s about having that access to give carers that support network and the information they need all at the right time, in an environment that’s safe.” 

The invited audience included carers and representatives of Marie Curie, as well as other organisations including Carers Wales, Carers Trust Wales, health boards, carer support workers and contributors to Taking Care/Cymryd Gofal.

Taking Care/Cymryd Gofal – available in both Welsh and English - provides carers with information and support that will help them to manage the practical, physical and emotional demands of their role. 

With more than 45 hours of content, the resource is aimed at supporting Carers to feel more resilient and better able to deal with the challenges they face in their caring role. 

This content is delivered via interviews with carers, who share their experiences and in interviews with GPs, counsellors, support workers and other professionals supporting carers in Wales. It also includes short unique films tailor-made for the project. 

Following the launch, the project team will be working with carers and a range of groups supporting carers together with Marie Curie Nursing Service and Hospices to evaluate its use and benefits, looking at how individual sites use the resource for different circumstances and how it directly benefits carers. 

Initially, this will include up to 30 different individuals, groups and organisations – including the Marie Curie Cardiff and Vale Hospice, Bridgend Carer’s Centre and a community hub in Newport, Pembrokeshire – with the outcomes to inform the final distribution of the resource at the end of the Marie Curie Caring for Carers’ project in Spring 2017. 

The intention will be to distribute 300 FREE copies of the resource across Wales at the end of the project. 

Susan Court, Project Manager, said: “Taking Care, Cymryd Gofal has been developed as one of the initiatives within a wider project undertaken by Marie Curie to support carers across Wales.

 “Adopting a partnership approach has been key in engaging both with carers and those organisations who support carers.” 

Simon Hatch, Director of Carers Trust Wales, said:   “Carers Trust Wales are delighted and proud to help launch the Marie Curie Taking Care, Cymryd Gofal project today. 

“We supported the development of this innovative resource by linking Marie Curie with our Wales wide network of local carers' services and by providing advice and information throughout its development. 

“Taking Care is going to make a real difference to carers' lives by providing flexible information which can be used by a carer at the time that's right for them.”

 What do carers think of the project? 

 Cheryl Bulman has been a carer for husband Gareth for a decade, ever since he was diagnosed with MS – a moment which “rocked the world,” she said. 

The couple, who live in Tregaron, Ceredigion, attended the launch event in Penarth, with Cheryl speaking to the invited guests of her experience as a carer. 

“I became a carer 10 years ago, after my husband Gareth was diagnosed with MS,” she said.

 “That day was a shocker and it rocked the world for me. 

“I went home and I didn’t know what to do, where to go and who to speak to.  There wasn’t the help there is now 10 years ago, there was no one stop shop to say this is where you can go.

“I was frightened and I was frustrated.”

But, she said, through use of the internet and persistent searching for information – which, she admits, didn’t come to her immediately – she found what she needed. 

“But I have come across people who aren’t vocal or aren’t comfortable on the internet,” she said. 

“We as carers provide so much free care, we need to be looked after, told where to go, what to do and when to do it.

 “In the darkness of the night, that is when we need help the most, that’s the time we need someone and there’s nobody there.

“To have this resource to tap into and have that information to hand, to me personally will be fantastic and I think it will be for most people. 

“A light bulb moment for me when we were filming was that we as carers have such a font of knowledge.  We need to share it. 

“I feel really honoured to be involved, because for a long time I thought we need something like this to give carers information and to impart the information that we have gained in a one stop shop.”