Local and regional elections will be taking place on Thursday 2 May. Anybody voting in a polling station at those elections will be required to show an accepted form of photographic ID. To see what ID is acceptable, please visit the Electoral Commission website.

This year, there has been a few changes when it comes to proxy votes. A proxy is someone who has to go to your polling station and will then vote on your behalf. Voters are now only able to act as a proxy for up to two people living in the UK (a maximum of four people, with two people living in the UK and two people registered as living overseas) in elections.

If you appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf, the person you appoint to vote must show their own photographic ID at the polling station. Find out more on our website.

Need help with anything? Contact our Elections Team and they’ll be happy to help.

What's a carer's assessment?

If you care for someone you may well have been offered a carer's assessment. A carer's assessment is the opportunity for you to talk to a professional about your caring role, the impact that it has on you and your overall wellbeing and any needs you might have as result.  It will help you talk about the future and help you start to think about other aspects like contingency planning.   

Who can have a carer's assessment?

Anyone who has a caring role can have a carer's assessment, you don't need to be caring for a certain amount of hours a week and you may even want to think about a carer's assessment if you're considering taking on a caring role. 

What can a carer's assessment lead to?

A carer's assessment should help you think about the support you might need and this will be explored as part of the assessment. This might be some support to plan for an emergency, it might be the provision of a Carers' Direct Payment to help you purchase goods or services, or to help you in your caring role. Often carers tell us it was the first time they've been able to discuss their own needs in any level of detail.  

Who completes the assessment? 

If you have active involvement with Adult Social Care, then your social work practitioner will offer you an assessment. If you don't have input at present from Adult Social Care you can request an assessment from the Carers Trust Heart of England on 024 7663 2972. 

We are continuing to promote the ‘experience survey’. In 2023/24 we received 120 surveys and we would ultimately like to achieve 300 a year so it's comparable with the uptake of our postal surveys.

The results so far are showing broadly very positive experience of those people who access our support or the people who care for them having a positive experience. Feedback has included being complimentary about our support and how we have worked to build a rapport and connection with people and a great proportion of people wanting to get involved in some way in the work of Adult Social Care (over 1300 people now signed up to this bulletin).

If you've had a recent assessment or support provided from Adult Social Care then we'd like to hear more about your experience. You can provide your feedback by accessing the Adult Social Care Experience survey. The survey is open to anyone whose received support from Adult Social Care recently and any carer who may have received support.  

We use any feedback to make sure we develop and improve our services and understand more about the realities of receiving support through Adult Social Care.  

The survey asks for your Care Director ID which can be found on any assessment or support plan you will have received as part of your care journey. Just to note that there are two surveys, one does not ask for an ID number so please do not worry if you do not have one. 

Carers Trust Heart of England are delighted to announce that we will once again be hosting our annual Carer Awards Ceremony on Thursday 13 June at Warwick School.

This year's Carer Awards will be that little bit more special as we celebrate our 50th anniversary. The Carer Awards will mark the beginning of these celebrations which will go on throughout the year, with so many fantastic memories and milestones to reflect upon!

The Carer Awards Ceremony will take place during Carers' Week (10-16 June), an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK. It also helps people who don’t see themselves as having caring responsibilities to identify as carers and access much-needed support.

This year’s theme is ‘Putting Carers on the Map.’ We are asking everyone to help us raise awareness of carers and to thank them for the invaluable role they carry out.

The Carer Awards is an opportunity for the local community to come together to celebrate the selfless work of not only carers but also the businesses, educational organisations and fundraisers that have gone above and beyond to help support carers and those they care for.

We are excited to reveal our award categories for this years ceremony. Please check out the categories and cast your vote. You can nominate individuals and organisations from both Coventry and Warwickshire!

Join us and together we can help support carers!

We're delighted to confirm that we will be kicking off our Carers' Week activities on Sunday 9 June with a walk around the breath taking Packington Estate.

The specific route is to be confirmed, but we are hoping to complete a 4 mile walk and want you to join us! Whatever your reason, whoever you walk for, please come along and join in. Feel free to come alone, bring the family, or even a furry friend!

Every step taken will help support carers in Coventry and Warwickshire so your support is much appreciated, not only by us but carers and those they care for too. We can't wait to see you all, ready and raring to go!

Please email  the team to register your interest. More information on route and meeting point will be revealed in the near future.

Sensory and reminiscing session

You’re warmly welcome to join us every Friday at the hub for our session.

From: 19 April 10am –12.30pm

Sessions include: sensory activities – such as soft items, favourite books, safe snacks, calm scents, nice textures …

Reminiscing includes: sharing life experiences, memories and stories from the past, listening to music, singing, dancing, building my life tree.

Can you remember any of the items in the photos?

The sessions take place every Friday at the Dementia Hub, Everdon Road, Holbrook CV6 4FB. For more information please call Karen on 07522 200138

Love4Life is a friendship and dating network for people with learning disabilities and autism.

With more than 200 members, Love4Life is a great way to make new friends and find love. You can access Love4Life in Coventry.

Love4Life offers:

• health, wellbeing and safety workshops, including sex and relationships, money management and independent living skills.
• chaperoned dates.
• one-to-one support at drop-in sessions.
• leisure trips, performing arts activities and relaxed social sessions.
• regular social activities – from bowling or meals out to karaoke and discos.

Love4Life members include people with mild learning disabilities, autistic people and people with more complex learning disabilities who might need additional support. Many members also have a range of physical health conditions and disabilities that means all our events are fully inclusive and accessible.

There is more information on their website, you can drop them an email or call Jenna Ford her mobile 07798 773657.

Age UK Coventry and Warwickshire, is excited to announce the publication of its second edition of “Guide To Later Life”

The booklet includes information on the services that Age UK Coventry and Warwickshire offers and, in addition, services offered by other agencies. It is a comprehensive booklet that can be referred to as and when you need it. 

Gill Entwistle, Chair of Trustees, says

"Age UK Coventry and Warwickshire aspires to improve the quality of later life for everyone in our local community...

Our dedicated, friendly and experienced staff are ready to support you take the first step in asking for help or guidance. The team is supported by over 300 wonderful volunteers working in unison.”

Contact Age UK Coventry and Warwickshire by email or call them on 024 7623 1999.

The Recovery and Wellbeing Academy run over 80 courses both online and face to face, available free to all adults living in Coventry and Warwickshire. Here you see some of the courses that may be of particular benefit to carers. 

• Recognising and managing stress and sustaining resilience - 7 May 
• Stress awareness - 9 May 
• Burnout and fatigue - 13 May
• Self compassion - 29 May
• Bereavement - 6 June
• Coping with caring - 27 June

To book on and view all the courses available visit Enrolment - Recovery and Wellbeing

Anyone in Coventry and the surrounding areas can get free, expert advice on all their energy needs thanks to Coventry City Council’s partner, Act on Energy.

As well as advice on billing (are they too high; do you get confused by them?), metering (is your meter working correctly and are you on the right tariff) and energy efficiency (is it better to bulk cook in an oven or use a slow cooker?); our advisors can help with the growing problem of damp and mould, which can be a significant health issue, particularly for those with compromised immune systems.

We can also talk you through what free grants are available to help with old and inefficient heating systems, insulating your property and even new boilers or gas servicing.

And as we approach the summer, this is an ideal time to get your home warm and efficient before the winter.

Keeping Coventry Warm is a specifically funded programme to help people who have a long term diagnosed health condition or disability which is affected by living in a cold home.

Funding is available for a range of measures including wall insultation, gas central heating and help with broken boilers.  Financial circumstances are considered but it’s worth giving us a call to see how we can help.  We even have an outreach officer who can make home visits for those most in need.  

Not all of the schemes have the same criteria so please do call for more information on 0800 988 2881 or check out our new website.

We appreciate that thinking about the future and decisions we might have to make can be difficult and upsetting but we wanted to share some information about a new service has been launched aiming to provide Coventry residents with a high-quality cost-effective option when choosing their funeral arrangements.

The ambition at Coventry Funeral Service is to keep things simple by streamlining the funeral arrangement process with fully inclusive funeral packages, clear pricing and providing the necessary information for people to make the best decision for their loved one.

Another added benefit is that Coventry City Council already runs a crematorium in the city, so is well-versed and extremely knowledgeable in this funeral sector, including funeral industry qualified, experienced staff.

Their website carries all the key information on how to get in touch, the range of options available, charges and a standardised price list in addition to a step-by-step guide on what do when somebody dies.

You can also contact the team by email or by calling 024 7697 7702.

Improvements made to hospital care

Improvements have been made on Ward 43 of University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, following Healthwatch’s visits to the ward to gather feedback on experiences of care. Their original visits led to a specific action plan being put in place to address the concerns raised. When Healthwatch Coventry revisited the ward, they found the atmosphere had become more positive and key findings had been acted upon, such as the introduction of a nutrition guardian and a clear focus on supporting patients to eat and drink.

Read more about the improvements that had been made in their latest report: