Hello everyone,

Welcome to this month’s Adult Social Care Bulletin.

This edition includes several important updates. One of the key items is the planned launch of our new Carers Strategy. We have a number of engagement events coming up to help shape the strategy, so it reflects the wide range of experiences and needs of people with caring responsibilities.

There is also an online survey for carers to complete. Please complete this if you are a carer, or you support a loved one as this will really help us shape the strategy. 

Neil Byrne, Head of Commissioning

Young Carers Action Day 2026

Young Carers Action Day took place on Wednesday 11 March 2026, with the theme being 'Fair Futures for Young Carers', a call to ensure every young carer has the same chances to learn, grow and thrive as their peers.

Young carers often have so much responsibility on their shoulders. They need the right support to reach their potential. 

On Young Carers Action Day we were joined by members of staff from the Young Carers team in Friargate alongside their mascot, Jerry, their “Bear to Care”, to share information and answer questions about young carers and the support they offer.

They bought with them some resources they use when working with young carers of different ages as well as a selection of leaflets and pens. Thank you. They then went on to several schools across the city to introduce Jerry, and as you can imagine he was a big hit!  

Several areas of the city were also lit up in blue to show Coventry City Council’s commitment to supporting young carers across the city.  

Hold the date: Coping with Caring course

The Coping with Caring 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 NHS Trust and Heart of England Carers Trust.

When:

Wednesday 10 June 2026 from 10am to midday online.

Course duration:

2 hour session.

The Adult Social Care Stakeholder Group meet every other month to discuss any upcoming developments, projects and changes. They are there to influence, make changes and help us improve the experience of people accessing Adult Social Care.

The group is made up of people receiving support, carers and voluntary sector organisations.

In March 2026, the group discussed Mental Health services and the role of an AMHP, the Coventry Dementia Partnership Hub, and the proposed Carers Strategy. 

We are continuing to promote the ‘experience survey’. In 2024 to 2025 we received 256 surveys and we would ultimately like to achieve 300 a year so its comparable with the uptake of our postal surveys.

Last year we also started 2 new surveys which we would encourage you to complete if they are applicable to you:

• safeguarding experience survey as our standard approach to seeking feedback from people about their safeguarding experience. This new process has replaced the ‘My Safeguarding Experience’ forms
• Safeguarding Experience Survey, capturing people’s experience of Section 42 safeguarding enquiries
• Direct Payments Experience Survey, seeking to find out more about what it’s like receiving a Direct Payment in Coventry, what’s working well. things people may like to see changed and to get involved in a peer group

For all our surveys, you can complete the survey yourself, or with the support of the worker involved. 

All these surveys and links can be found on our ‘getting involved’ web page. 

Adults Social Care and Sign Video

SignVideo is a video relay service that we are now using to connect Deaf service users with Adult Social Care Direct. SignVideo enables the deaf community to connect to a qualified British Sign Language (BSL) Interpreter, who then places a call to the Adult Social Care Direct phone number.

We recognise Deaf BSL users are a distinct language group with its own form of communication and are keen to use any means possible to promote the service, as its key to ensure we are inclusive and accessible, so please tell friends and family!

Meet DEN’s March Team of the Month

The Disabled Employee Network has named the Intake and Learning Disabilities Promoting Independence Service as its Team of the Month for March.

The Award recognises managers or teams who go above and beyond to support colleagues with disabilities and showcases examples of good practice which help to enable and empower employees to be the best that they can be.

It is designed to ensure equity of opportunity and to help to build an inclusive, supportive culture in the workplace.

The nomination was made by a new member of the team, who said: 

“I joined after a period of sickness, and due to my Autism and ADHD I was feeling overwhelmed. When I first came to this team I was still not well and within the first week of starting this role I had a panic attack and honestly thought at that point I may not be able to return to my job.

“The team at LDPI and its manager Rupa Davidson have been so supportive and welcomed me into the team. They are all so friendly and have a good understanding of neurodivergence and it’s nice that they just get me and my ‘quirky ways’.

“Rupa has worked in partnership with me to get support in place for me to be able to do my job and start to rebuild my confidence.”

In receiving the award, Rupa said:

“We are a small but highly committed team supporting individuals with a learning disability and/or ASD. Our focus is on building skills, growing confidence, and promoting independent living - helping people achieve meaningful occupations while increasing their sense of choice and control.

“It is both humbling and a delight that as a team we share these values amongst ourselves and colleagues. As a manager it is my role to adapt my support and approach to meet the needs of the wonderful team, empowering them to enhance their occupational performance and achieve their own career goals.

“In the team we have a glorious mix of hard-working professionals who show amazing dedication and compassion with how they support each other. I am fortunate to have such a hard-working team who greatly value inclusion and acceptance. They make me extremely proud!”

The award was presented by Barry Hastie, Sponsor of the network, who said:

“This is just our third award, but we are already hearing such great and inspiring stories of how teams across the Council are supporting colleagues. Congratulations to Rupa and the team, and thank you on behalf of the network.”

Care Workers Engagement Event a Huge Success in Coventry

On 27 February 2026, Coventry City Council held a Care Workers Engagement Event, which proved to be a tremendous success, welcoming hundreds of care workers through the doors for a day of support, advice and connection. 

With 30 stalls representing a wide range of organisations, including the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector, West Midlands Police, Royal College of Nursing energy advice services, fitness organisations, modern slavery support services and trade unions, the event offered something for everyone.  

The turnout was so strong that sign-in proved a challenge, with a constant flow of attendees throughout the day. Around 15 British National Overseas passport holders from Hong Kong, who were attending a meeting in an adjacent room, also joined the event.