Carers Week: Celebrating Diversity
PAUL McLAUGHLIN
The Isabel Blackman Centre hosted the launch of Carers Week last Saturday (10 June), with local MP Sally-Ann Hart and the new Mayor of Hastings, Cllr Margi O’Callaghan, in attendance.
Carers Week is an annual campaign celebrated across the UK to raise awareness of the millions of carers across the country who look after someone who couldn’t manage without their help. The UK has over 6.5 million unpaid carers. There are over 69,000 in East Sussex alone, with 10,291 identified as living in Hastings. They look after a relative, friend or neighbour who couldn’t manage without them. Unsurprisingly, the pandemic caused a massive spike in numbers, and had an adverse impact on young people.
The charity is based locally in the Isabel Blackman Centre in the heart of the Old Town, and its team of volunteers provide free practical and emotional advice; they also offer telephone and online support. They aim to put carers in touch with each other and help navigate the range of services available locally. The charity also runs support groups, training and events in Hastings and beyond.
Jennifer Twist, the Chief Executive of Care for the Carers, said she hoped this year’s Carers Week would help raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities in East Sussex and throughout the country.
This year’s Carers Week seeks to highlight the challenges faced by unpaid carers who are from culturally diverse communities. Teri Sayers-Cooper, the Inclusion and Development Officer for Care for Carers, explained that many of these carers can be even more isolated because of language or their social or ethnic backgrounds. The Making Carers Count work initiative has been designed specifically to help them. The national programme was set up to work with communities who may find it more difficult to engage with local services. This service is aimed at people who look after someone, and who will be able to learn about free bi-lingual counselling, how to access free translation and interpreting, as well as diverse carers groups run by bi-lingual interpreters.
Dean Stewart, the tireless and amiable manager of the Isabel Blackman Centre, believes Carers Week embodies the spirit of the centre, which he says “aims to offer a warm, affordable place for everyone to enjoy, learn something new, keep fit and, most important of all, to socialise with others”.
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