Wokingham Borough Connect
 Making plans to support unpaid carers
Last week was the second of our Working Together for Change workshops to look at how we can improve support for unpaid carers in the borough. We chose to concentrate on five themes that we agreed could have the most difference to the biggest amount of people if we fixed them. They were:
- “I can’t be spontaneous, there is not enough flexible support”
- “I haven’t got options for breaks that work for the person I care about”
- “I’m doing all the leg work to get support as it doesn’t feel like services are joined up”
- “I feel trapped, my family member only wants me and my life has diminished”
- “I always have to fight for everything – computer says no! It feels adversarial not collaborative”
Creating an action plan to move forward
We made a list of all the things that we each knew about in our community that could help solve the problem.
Then we thought about other practical things that could help. We voted for the ideas we thought would have the biggest impact for the most people, and that we could realistically do. We finished by starting to write an action plan for each idea – this made us really think about how we could make the ideas real.
Since the workshop, we have allocated the actions to people with the right expertise to work out how they can be brought to life. These include reviewing the Carer’s pages on the council website with residents, so people can see what support is out there, and looking at ways of increasing the choice of breaks available that work for the carer and the person they care about.
We’re also working with the Carer’s Partnership to improve the Carer's Assessment and Carer's Review experience. We will keep you posted as changes are made.
 Working in partnership to support carers
One of the things that we discovered during the Carer’s Project, was that there were lots of good things happening that we didn’t all know about.
For example, did you know about the Carer’s Partnership, made up of Promise Inclusion, Age UK Berkshire and Berkshire Youth? The Carer’s Partnership is commissioned by the Council to provide information and advice for carers in the borough. They can help you:
- Get support to help you in your caring role
- Find local services and sources of help
- Look after your health and wellbeing
- Connect with other carers
- Understand your rights
The Carer’s Partnership also run cafes and groups for people who provide unpaid care to a loved one, so you can meet other carers similar to you. At the groups, you can share ideas about managing your caring roles and learn about other support services available locally.
They also have a Carer’s Card that help to make others aware that someone relies on you. The card is personalised and has an emergency contact number on it specific to the carer and also the numbers for adult social care. You can find out more by checking out the Carer’s Partnership website or by calling them on 0118 9594242.
 Helping people stay safe and happy at home
We want to help everyone in Wokingham live in place they can call home. As part of this, we want to make sure we have really great providers who can help people where they live, to stay safe and happy, offering the support that residents need.
That could be help with
- Preparing or cooking food
- Getting up and dressed / Going to bed
- Toileting and bathing
- Helping you get out and about to do things in your community like the shopping.
- Helping you set goals and gain new skills
- Reminding or giving you medication
Share your views
We are going to look at what’s working and what’s not about the help people currently receive, as well as your thoughts on how the support could be better.
If you receive help from the council where you live, in your own house or in supported living accommodation we’d love to hear your thoughts. If you click the get involved button below, you can tell us you would like to be a part of this project. Someone will then arrange to call you to listen to your feedback. Or, if you prefer, we can email you questions for you to reply to. You don’t have to be the person who receives this support, we are also interested in hearing from people who organise paid help for a loved one in their home.
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