Carers Rights Day sees UK politicians hear from Carers Trust and carers about the challenges they face

Unpaid carers and Carers Trust have marked Carers Rights Day by meeting with senior politicians across the UK to discuss the challenges they face.

This year’s Carers Rights Day theme is “Recognising Your Rights”. Carers Trust and unpaid carers used the day to press home the importance of carers knowing about and accessing their rights, alongside the need to improve them.

John Swinney MSP, First Minister of Scotland, visited Carers Trust network member PKAVS Carers Hub in advance of Carers Rights Day.

The First Minister met staff and a group of unpaid carers at the Perth centre to hear directly about the key issues affecting them and what further support is needed for Scotland’s unpaid carers.

At the Senedd in Cardiff, Carers Trust held an event the day before Carers Rights Day and were joined by Minister for Children and Social Care Dawn Bowden.

The event focused on the support carers most value and the impact of the Carers Support Fund, a Welsh Government-funded programme providing grants to those in hardship. The fund has reached 22,000 carers so far.  

On Carers Rights Day itself, Ms Bowden officially opened a new hub for unpaid carers in Swansea. The Carers Hwb is a new service from Swansea Carers Centre, which has launched the new service from a bigger building with the help of Welsh Government funding.  

The Hwb aims to make it easier for carers to access all the services available to them in one place and attract new carers who might be unaware of their rights and entitlements, such as those from ethnic minorities and male carers.

In England, Minister of State for Social Security and Disability Stephen Timms visited Carers Support Centre Bristol and South Gloucestershire. He took a tour of the facilities, hearing from senior staff and trustees about the charity.

Mr Timms then spoke to frontline workers about their work and how the centre helps carers in the area. He heard from three carers about their caring role, the financial challenges they face, the changes that would make the biggest difference to them and the impact of the support they've had from the carers centre.

Down in Westminster, MPs Anna Dixon and Chris Vince hosted a roundtable in Parliament with MPs, Peers, carers and local carer services. They discussed the issues carers face around carer’s assessments and transitioning from children's to adult services.

The event also marked the launch of Carers Trust’s new report with the We Care campaign about how carers' rights are working in reality.

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