Carers Trust and The Rank Group Plc (Rank) renew funding partnership to boost support for exhausted unpaid carers
Carers Trust and Rank are delighted to announce an extension of their hugely successful seven year funding partnership into 2022.
The partnership has already had an incredible impact by so far raising over £2.8 million to support more than 12,500 carers since the partnership’s inception in 2014.
The money raised is typically used to provide exhausted unpaid carers with a grant they can use to take a much-needed break from their caring role, safe in the knowledge that their loved one continues to be cared for.
Grants made possible by funding from Rank have also helped unpaid carers buy otherwise unaffordable household items like fridges, washing machines and beds that are essential if they are to continue providing round-the-clock care.
This special funding partnership with Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos, part of Rank, will now continue. Rank hopes to bring the total up to £3million since the partnership began for Carers Trust and its network of frontline charities, supporting an extra estimated 1,500 unpaid carers during the year.
Unpaid carers at ‘breaking point’
Rank’s commitment to renewed funding could not have come at a better time for unpaid carers. Even before Coronavirus, most unpaid carers were exhausted, with many saying they had reached ‘breaking point’. (1)
The pandemic has made a bad situation even worse for carers. Because of multiple lockdowns, many local services for carers and those they care for have had to close. This has resulted in unpaid carers having to provide even more care for their loved ones, with one in six carers caring for an extra forty hours or more per week in addition to what they were already doing.
Support from Rank has helped play a vital role in supporting unpaid carers with the extra challenges of the pandemic. Between March 2020 and March 2021, grants made possible thanks to Rank have helped 750 individual unpaid carers buy essential household items or get access to a funded break and have some much-needed time for themselves.
Grants have also meant Carers Trust’s local partner services have been able to continue providing online peer support groups. These groups help unpaid carers link up with other carers experiencing the same problems, helping tackle loneliness and isolation as well as ensuring carers understand they are not alone.
Funding to support thousands of unpaid carers
Sarah Powell, Communications Director at Rank, said:
“The extra funding we hope to raise over the next year further demonstrates our long-term commitment to support unpaid carers across the UK. Our customers and colleagues enthusiastically fundraise for unpaid carers as we know it can make a difference. The pandemic has made caring roles even more challenging, and we’re proud that our fundraising directly benefits those who need it most.”
Director of Fundraising at Carers Trust, Svetlana Kirov, continues:
“We’re so grateful to Rank and their customers for this sustained funding partnership which shows how, over the long term, the corporate sector can bring about real benefits for people and communities in the UK.
“Carers Trust is thrilled to be working with its funders to channel money directly to thousands of unpaid carers across the UK so they can get the essential equipment and breaks they need to continue in their caring role.”