Write to your General Election candidates and ask them to speak up
Use this simple guide to write a letter to your General Election candidates and let them know why carers are at the heart of their constituency.
Carers of all ages tell us about the impact caring has on their health, livelihood and opportunities.
This is backed up by a growing body of evidence that shows failure to support carers is a false economy. All too often excessive demands on carers leads to burnout, with knock-on effects on their ability to care.
Carers should not have to battle for help. The next UK Government will have the perfect opportunity to set out a clear plan for carers of all ages. But this depends on the new MPs joining parliament understanding the challenges carers face, and championing their cause from within Westminster.
Will you tell your candidates that local people care about carers?
Our five-step guide makes it easy to get your candidates’ attention – it could make all the difference.
When writing to, or emailing, your MP, it’s best to be as succinct and clear as possible. They will be receiving a high volume of messages on a range of different issues. Your letter might include an introduction explaining why supporting carers is important to you, why it would make a difference to you and others, and what you would want them to do about if they became an MP.
Step 1: Find out who your candidates are
Find out who your candidates are and their contact details to reach them. Remember, it’s valuable to write to candidates and build momentum around carers even if candidates are not from the political party you support, or if they’re unlikely to win in your area.
You can find official election information for your area on the Electoral Commission website at:
Electoral Commission: Your election information
In addition, information about candidates in each constituency is being collected online by the independent website, 'Who Can I Vote For?':
Who Can I Vote For? Find out about candidates in your area [External site]
All you need is your postcode.
Step 2: Get the message across
It's really important that your letter is clear and concise, so candidates recognise the urgency of the issue – remember that lots of people will be asking them to focus on lots of different things!
You can focus on what you like, but here are some issues we’re campaigning on at Carers Trust. These are issues that carers tell us about all the time:
- The next Government must stop pushing carers to the limit - carers are being asked to do too much by those in power. The NHS and social care services are struggling from years of underfunding and carers are the ones having to provide the additional help. Their caring saves the UK Government billions of pounds, but can be at the cost of carers’ health, education, employment and wellbeing.
- One of the best ways to support carers of all ages is through local carer services. These services understand community needs and can shape their services to specifically work with carers. To reach as many carers as possible, local carer organisations have to be sustainable, and funded to grow their ability to meet rising need. At the moment demand is outpacing capacity.
- The next Government must end carer poverty. Carers are significantly more likely to be living in poverty than people without caring responsibilities. New MPs have the opportunity to: review and change carer benefits like Carer’s Allowance; make it easier to join and remain in work for those who want to; and ensure there are local financial schemes to help people in a crisis.
- Recognition of the estimated one million young carers in the UK is improving. But there is still not enough help to ensure they have a fair. The education system needs more resource to be able to put dedicated support in place. And local education settings need encouragement to identify young carers on their registers.
Step 3: Make it personal and local
Tell your candidate how these issues affect you and those around you.
Here are a few things you could write about:
- If you have personal experience of caring, in any form, that gives you knowledge and expertise that your candidate may not have themselves. Or if they do, it will help them to relate to your letter. If you feel comfortable with sharing your experience it can make a big impact on how a candidate may act if they become an MP.
- You may want to describe how local carer services have had a positive impact on your life and those around you.
- How would further support in your area make a difference?
- What impact has caring had on your life? What has changed?
Step 4: Strengthen your letter with evidence
You may want to use a couple of these statistics to help demonstrate the national scale of the challenge:
- 1 in 3 young carers and young adult carers struggle to balance caring with learning (UK, Carers Trust Young Carer/Young Adult Carer report, 2023).
- Young carers are 38% less likely to achieve a degree-level qualification; those caring for 35+ hours a week are 86% less likely (UK, UK Household Longitudinal Study)
- 87% of carers in receipt of Carer’s Allowance say it is not enough to meet their needs as a carer (UK, 2022, Carers Trust).
- 28% of carers live in poverty compared to 20% of those not in a caring role.1
- One in seven (14%) carers have used a food bank; with 63% worried about being able to afford energy bills. (UK, 2022, Carers Trust).
- More than 1.5million people provide 50 hours or more care a week (ONS, England and Wales)
- Only 55% of carers say they get the support they need (Carers Trust, 2023, UK)
- Only 32% of carers said they could access a break from their caring role whenever needed (Carers Trust, 2023)
Step 5: Let your candidate know there is action they can take immediately
Once your letter has caught their attention, it’s a great idea to give candidates an option to take action.
Ask your candidate to pledge to be a Carer Champion if they are elected.–This allows them to demonstrate they have heard your message, that they’ll use their influence to help, and allows carers and Carers Trust to follow up with them once the election is over.
You might also want to include the following:
And finally
The more often candidates hear about issues facing local carers, the more likely they are to act - could you encourage others to write too?
Maybe share that you have written to candidates with family, friends or even your street’s Whatsapp group. Encourage them to do the same and share the guidance on this web page.
If you’re happy to share that you’ve written to candidates, post about this on your social media and tag @CarersTrust.