Do you care for someone who has a learning disability? Have they had their annual health check?

People with a learning disability often have poorer physical and mental health than other people, but this does not need to be the case. Annual health checks are available for adults and young people aged 14 or over with a learning disability, provided by their GP practice. Anyone aged 14 or over who is on their GP's learning disability register can have a free annual health check once a year. These important checks help to detect health conditions, check any medication is still appropriate, give you a chance to ask questions about your health and get to know the staff at the practice.

You can find out more about the checks from the annual health check up information leaflet. You can also use our easy-read letter template to request an annual health check from your GP practice. Both can be downloaded.

Please encourage the person you care for to attend their annual check and to 'Check In, Check Up and Check Out' on their health. Why not call up and book today?

The effects of the COVID pandemic has impacted us all and life may now look very different for people with caring responsibilities, especially those who are looking after someone that they care about for the first time.

We are pleased to announce a new package of extra services that has been funded by Coventry City Council, which means that we can offer even more support to family carers in the city, recognising their vital role in helping to reduce pressures on health and social care and looking after the people they care about.

This additional carer support includes a range of interventions: virtual day support, enhancing support for BAME carers, support around grief and loss, supporting working carers, connecting carers to activities in the community, contributing to support for young carers, financial hardship support, support with being digitally excluded and carers self-management courses.

We will be sharing details of these new services in the coming weeks, however, if you would like to find out more in the meantime, please contact our Wellbeing Team. You can call us on 024 7663 2972 or check our website.

We also continue to offer our virtual sessions:

Please check our social media page for latest sessions and information on how to participate. 

Carers Tea @ 3            Every Wednesday at 3pm via zoom              

Yoga                             Every Wednesday at 11am via zoom            

LD/ASC Group             Every Wednesday Fortnight at 10am            

Carers Evening Chat    Every Wednesday at 7pm via zoom              

Parent Chat                  Every Monday 4:30pm via discord                

                                     Every Thursday 8:30pm via discord              

MILAN Asian Group     Every fortnight Friday 11am via zoom         

Care and Share            Every first Thursday monthly 10:30am via zoom     

Your choices about caring

Some people start giving care at a very young age and don't really realise they're carers. Other young people become carers overnight. If someone in your family needs to be looked after, you may really want to help them. It's important you decide how much and what type of care you're willing or able to give, or whether you should be a carer at all.

Young carers' rights

If you or your parents request it, and with your consent, you are entitled to an assessment called "About Me". This considers your caring role and it will determine what help you and your family might need and whether it's appropriate for you to care for someone else. It also takes into account whether you want to be a carer. We will also look at your education, training, leisure opportunities and views about your future. 

​As part of the assessment, we will ask you about your wishes and involve you, your parents and anyone else you or your parents want to be involved. It will also explain what you can do if you or your parents disagree with the assessment.

If you're 16 or over and not in full-time education, you may be eligible for help finding work, as well as with your family's finances (for instance, through benefits such as Carer's Allowance)

Getting an assessment is the best way to find out what's available in your situation.

Getting help

If you are a young carer or parent of a young carer/s and you feel that you would like to complete the "About Me" form, please email with the subject ‘ABOUT ME’ and one of the team will be in touch within 48 working hours of you sending the message to arrange an appointment.  

If you are a professional and would like to refer a young carer to our services or for an assessment, you will need to fully complete and return the referral form, ensuring you have the consent of both the young carer and parent of the young carer.

At the Young Carers Project in Coventry, we believe all young people should be given the opportunity to reach their full academic potential. With the current pandemic, there may be changes to school life that may be causing additional worries or stress to young carers in particular. Going back to school from a lockdown may be a welcome relief for many, to see friends and get back to some normality, but for young carers – their caring roles may have increased during the lockdown and now being back at school may mean being unable to focus, routines may be affected and they may miss the time they had with their loved ones during the lockdown which can affect their education and school life.

If this sounds like you, or your child, please contact Rhupinder Kaur – Schools Development Worker at the Young Carers Service, who may be able to offer advice and development work with your child’s school to ensure support is in place if required, and that school is aware your child is a young carer.

Alternatively you can call Rhupinder Kaur – 07714 742036

The app launched this week, it is an important new tool to work alongside traditional contact tracing to help reduce the spread of the virus. It is available to those aged 16 and over and in multiple languages. It forms a central part of the NHS Test and Trace service in England and the NHS Wales Test, Trace, Protect programme – identifying contacts of those who have tested positive for coronavirus.  You can download the app to help protect yourself and your loved ones. 

The council are looking at how we can start safely reopening services that have had to close or change how they operate due to Coronavirus. Can you spare a few minutes to let us know your thoughts?

For example, would you still use day services? Would it help to have lots of services available in one place? What would be really helpful to you right now?

If you live with dementia or care for someone who does (or you have in the past), we would love to know what you think. Please take a few minutes to complete the short survey.

Coventry City Council launched its health campaign to help residents to get fit during the COVID-19 pandemic 

Coventry City Council and partners are supporting a major new, adult health campaign to help residents become more resilient to COVID-19 by kick starting a journey to better health. 

Coventry Health Challenge is all about empowering individuals and communities by promoting healthy behaviour choices that will reduce the risks of developing serious diseases from COVID-19 and the flu. 

It is now six months since lockdown began and there is an awareness that COVID-19 is with us for the long-term. Joining the Coventry Health Challenge can help the city’s residents and communities live in a new normal alongside coronavirus, without it defeating our health. The campaign really hopes to engage the older population and those with long term conditions and focuses on eating well to keep weight within a healthy range, being more active, quitting smoking and keeping up to date with immunisations.

Over the next six months we will be challenging residents to practice self-care and take responsibility for their health as we head towards the end of 2020. Each month will follow a theme: diet and nutrition, physical activity, smoking cessation and immunisations and will include advice and tips, checklists, case studies and signposting on social media and local media. 

Appointments can now be made for a 45 minute computer session per day and a 30 minute visit to choose books at Foleshill, Stoke, Tile Hill, Central, Bell Green and Willenhall Libraries.

Libraries are participating in the track and trace scheme and will talk to you about this at the time of booking.

A click and collect service is still available at Foleshill, Stoke, Tile Hill, Bell Green, Central, Canley, Allesley Park, Willenhall and Jubilee Crescent Libraries. To do this you are welcome to make an appointment, order a bundle of books or call us 024 7683 2314. The library will contact you with your appointment time.

We look forward to seeing you soon! 

Reading well for health and wellbeing.  

Coventry Libraries are proud to offer Reading Well Books on prescription and reading well mood-boosting books at all our libraries. 

Reading well self-help books

Reading well helps you to understand and manage your health and wellbeing using helpful reading. The books are all chosen and recommended by health experts, as well as people living with the conditions covered and their relatives and carers. You can be recommended a title by a health professional, or you can visit your local library and take a book out yourself.

Some titles are available to download for free as eBooks.

Care Companion is continually being updated to provide up to date, trusted information and advice, helping anyone with a caring role manage throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in order to better address care needs and feel less anxious and stressed.

Please register for an account if you haven’t already done so. Care Companion includes information and advice on how to manage the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic and connect with like-minded individuals. It also has tips on how to cope with grief and make time for exercise and healthy eating in order to help alleviate stress and anxiety.