Volunteer with Carers in Hertfordshire

At a glance

Causes

Social care

Other details

Organisation type:

Charity

Geographical remit:

Regional

Objectives

WHO WE ARE

Carers in Hertfordshire is the leading charity in Hertfordshire working with unpaid family carers who are supporting someone who could not manage without them. We support carers who are caring for a relative or friend who: has a physical or learning disability, dementia, mental health problems, misuse drugs or alcohol, is ill or frail. It doesn’t matter if that person lives in the same house or elsewhere, is an adult or a child.

WHY WE EXIST

Supporting others often means that carers put their own needs second. This can have serious consequences for carers. The charity regularly asks carers for their views and experiences, in our spring 2018 survey 1,434 carers told us about their experiences of caring.

About 1 in 7 carers are caring for more than one generation
And 1 in 6 are caring for more than one person
58% respondents care for 50+ hours per week
43% receive direct payments
10% of families include a young carer
36% had difficulties with Health and Social Care working together
75% are stressed
40% neglected their own health
38% have lost touch with family and friends
41% have experienced relationship difficulties
24% have not made/kept appointments for themselves with a health professional
24% said that within their caring role, they have felt unsafe or afraid
29% have not had a full day off caring for over 5 years
20% believe their financial circumstances are affecting their health

Activities

WHAT WE DO

We offer a range of services to meet the needs of Hertfordshire’s carers.

Carer Development and Learning: Offering courses and learning opportunities.

Information and Advice Service: Providing information and advice needed to support carers in their caring role and an opportunity for carers to explore their support needs in depth over the phone using our in house developed Carer planning tool. This includes access to our small health focussed grants.

Carers Advocacy Service: Making sure carers are able to have their voice.

Carer Trainer Unit: Supporting and training carers to deliver carer awareness training.

Hubs: Local Hubs around the county made up of carer groups and ambassadors.

Mentoring: Carers are trained to provide a sounding board to other carers.

Passport: A photo ID card giving discounts on services and products.

Involvement:

- Maintaining and developing Carer Information and Involvement Networks and Forums for Mental Health, Learning Disability, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Dementia, Drug & Alcohol and Parent Carers.
- Information, relaxation and involvement sessions for Parent Carers
- Recruiting and providing training and support to carers to enable them to undertake carer representation in service planning and performance.
- Raising awareness during Carers’ Week and Carers Rights Day.

Young Carers Service:
- Working with the family to plan, so the young carer can access the same opportunities and activities as their non-carer peers.
- Supporting the Young Carers Council, including producing a manifesto for young carers and co-producing an annual Young Carers’ Conference.
- Group activities: Facilitating young carers meeting others in a similar situation, developing new skills and broadening their horizons.
Bereavement service: Telephone support provided by volunteers to carers who have lost the person they care for. The year-long group programme provides peer support and techniques to work through the grieving process.
Admiral Nursing Service: Clinical support for carers of people with dementia.
Community Dementia Support: As part of the Hertswise group we provide community support for carers of people with dementia.
Carers Breaks: A break for carers made possible by providing trained Care Support Workers
Carer Champions in Health Settings: We work with named champions who are staff in GP surgeries, hospitals and other health care settings to support them to facilitate their whole team to identify and support carers

No current opportunities

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