Welcome to this month’s jam-packed bulletin. June is a busy month, full of activities and events to join in with, as part of Carers Week, which runs from 5 – 11 June 2023.

Pete Fahy – Director of Adult Social Care & Housing: "Carers' Week is a week to shout loud and proud about the role of unpaid carers.

The theme for this year’s Carers' Week is ‘Recognising and supporting carers in the community' and aims to support communities coming together to recognise the huge contribution unpaid carers make to society.

Carers Week and supporting carers is really important to us at Coventry City Council as not only do carers provide on-going care for a loved one, carers make on-going sacrifices to make sure they can care, giving up time, work and sometimes valued relationships.

At Coventry City Council we are dedicated to supporting carers well, we work closely with the Carers' Trust Heart of England to achieve this. We are supporting Carers' Week because it's an important opportunity to raise the visibility of caring, something we are all likely to do in our lifetime but often when people take on a caring role it can be hard to know where to turn for support and it can feel like an isolating experience'.

During Carers Week Coventry City Council will be showing their support to carers in the city by turning Greyfriars Green and Whittle Arch blue for the whole week and Christchurch Spire blue for Monday (5^th) and Sunday (11^th). It’s well worth taking a look.  

We hope that you enjoy reading the rest of our bulletin to see what else is happening within the city. 

Take care and thank you for all that you do. 

Having a carer's assessment?

If you look after someone, a friend, a loved one, a neighbour sometimes it can be hard to think about the support you need yourself.  But support is available when you need it.  A carer's assessment is a good way of starting those conversations and thinking about your own needs.  

Who can have a carer's assessment?

Anyone providing care for an adult is entitled to a carer's assessment.  

What is a carer's assessment? 

It's the opportunity for you to talk to a professional about your caring role, how it impacts you, what you'd like. 

We will explore what is important to you, how your caring role impacts you, what parts of your caring role you want to maintain, need support with or want to end. We will explore how regularly you are able to take breaks and the other areas of your life that are important to you. A carer's assessment will also help you think about the future and what support you might need in the event of an emergency.

We will complete a support plan with you if required (and jointly with the person you are caring for) and will review this as your needs change over time.

What might happen as a result of an assessment?

The practitioner will work with you to see what support is available and what might help.  It might even be that feeling listened too and having the opportunity to talk about your experiences has helped in itself.  It might be that you need a bit more support, perhaps care and support for the person you're looking after, so they will support you to access help available.

Who does the Carers Assessment?  

We work in partnership with the Carers Trust Heart of England to provide carers’ support services. We have asked Carers Trust Heart of England to complete some of our Carer's Assessments on our behalf:

• If you or the person you care for already have services from us or if we are already involved then we will complete your assessment.
• If you or the person you care for do not already have services or involvement from us, Carers Trust Heart of England will complete your assessment.

If the person you care for is having an assessment from Adult Social Care or Mental Health Services, your needs as a carer should always be considered as part of this assessment. This is called a ‘combined assessment’. You can still have your needs assessed separately as well if this will be of benefit for you to look in more detail at your caring role and how it affects you.

You can see further information on the Carers Trust Heart of England and Councils websites. 

Sign up to Carers Trust Heart of England monthly newsletter to keep up to date on events, opportunities, support services and much more.

May’s newsletter was jam-packed with information on the Carer Awards and Carers Week, including details on several exciting events that are taking place throughout the week. There was also much more information on how Carers Trust Heart of England's services can help carers of all ages, including Young Carers who this month enjoyed painting, decorating and baking! 

Carers Trust Heart of England are a Coventry based charity who support carers and those they care for by providing the highest possible quality, individually tailored care support service.

Stroke Association - We're here to support people to rebuild their lives after a stroke. We believe everyone deserves to live the best life they can after a stroke. 

We provide specialist support, fund critical research and campaign to make sure people affected by stroke get the very best care and support to rebuild their lives. 

Rebuilding lives after a stroke is a team effort. It takes the determination of stroke survivors and carers, the generosity of supporters and the dedication of the healthcare and research communities to get there.   

To help the recovery of stroke survivors we provide information, support and advice. We have various offers of support from Stroke Recovery Service, Peer Support Groups, Here for you, Online Activities Hub, Helpline, My Stroke Guide, Childhood Stroke Project and much more.

For help, information and support please visit our website. 

Earsldon Stroke Support Group - This groups accepts people from the Coventry area.  It is a friendly group that offers social support and always welcomes new members. The group meets fortnightly on Thursday mornings.

Activities: Arts, sport, exercise and social

You can join their facebook page - Coventry Stroke Survivors

Our cooking session this month focused around using Fairtrade ingredients and the older group made some delicious chocolate brownies! The cooking session is always a favourite activity.

Our Young Adult Carers got together and met up for a night of bowling this month, it’s always great to see them having fun and catching up with their peers.

This course aims to raise awareness and understanding of how the caring role can impact on many aspects of your life. The course looks at ways you can look after yourself as well as continuing to support and promote the independence of the person you care for.

Learning outcomes:

• To increase awareness of the roles and responsibilities of being a Carer in the UK and to look at how these roles affect us.
• To consider and develop some techniques for coping and helping ourselves as well as those we care for.  
• To look at your rights as a Carer and places to seek additional support.  

Aimed at: Anyone who is currently caring for a friend or family member and is experiencing increased stress.

Course tutors: Staff from Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust and Heart of England Carers Trust.

You can enrol by taking a look at their website.

Central England Law Centre (CELC) is launching a new health justice partnership in Coventry and Nuneaton. The partnership will be led by CELC, the largest Law Centre in the country and will be led by our vision for a fairer and more just society where rights and their power are embedded in our community.  We will be starting work in the PCN Navigation 1, which serves these GP practices:

Hillfields Health Centre – Dr R Bano Practice

The Meridian Practice

Priory Gate Practice

Paradise Medical Centre

Hillfields Health Centre– Dr G Sani & Partners

Godiva Group of Practices

Central Medical Practice

Clay Lane Medical Practice

Anchor Centre

In the project, our advisors will work in multi-disciplinary teams alongside GP clinical and non-clinical staff. The service will be co-located within GP surgeries, to which patients are referred and be a bridge between the health service and specialist advice. This can be delivered by social prescribers or by generalist advice workers acting as navigators. 

We can signpost to other services or provide generalist advice (including advocacy) on common issues arising around income, housing, access to services, consumer issues to increase knowledge of rights and ability to self-help. Specialist advice (casework and representation) to deal with common issues around debt, welfare benefits refusals and entitlements amongst other things.

For further information please email Emma Bates at the Law Centre.

For families with children under 5.

collect your free fun Bookstart pack from your local Coventry Council-run library.

Bookstart Pre- schooler packs  for 3 - 4 year olds.

These packs are offered free to low-income families. You don't need to bring id or proof of income, just call in and ask for a pack. 

Sharing books and rhymes with young children can be a lovely experience, and can improve your child's social, communication and educational skills. 

Collect these lovely packs until the end of June from your local library.

For further information please see our website. 

Coventry City Council’s energy advice partners, Act on Energy, has secured additional funding for the Keeping Coventry Warm programme.

The funding means that many more people will be able to benefit from a warmer home this year.

The scheme is designed to help Coventry residents (both owner occupiers and those privately renting) who have a long-term health condition or disability which is affected by living in a cold or damp home.

The help can include external wall insulation and first time installation of gas central heating – as well as cavity wall insulation, broken or inefficient boiler replacements, loft insulation and upgrades to electric storage heaters.

The income threshold is dependent on the number of people who live in the property so it’s well worth getting in touch to see if you qualify for help.

And even if you’re not eligible under this scheme, Act on Energy can access other schemes which may be able to help.

So if you’re worried about heating bills and how to heat your home properly, call Act on Energy’s free helpline 0800 988 2881 or visit their website.

People at the Heart of Health and Care Healthwatch Coventry Annual Meeting and Celebration

Healthwatch Coventry will be holding its annual meeting and 10^th Anniversary Celebration on Wednesday 5 July at Coventry Transport Museum. It starts at 10am and will be followed by lunch. This will be a great time to look back on Healthwatch Coventry’s achievements over the last 10 years and the last year in particular, as well as looking forward to future work. The theme will be People at the Heart of Health and Care and it also coincides with the NHS’s 75^th birthday. Find out more and book a place by visiting their website.