Carers

 

A carer is someone who provides unpaid help to family or friends who would not be able to manage without support. This could mean caring for a relative, partner or friend who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or substance misuse problems.

According to the 2011 census, the number of people identifying themselves as carers has increased from 5.2 million in 2001 to 5.8 million in England and Wales. This is projected to increase to 9 million by 2037. 

In Walsall there are currently therfore, estimated to be 30,632 people undertaking a caring role.

Over the last decade there has been an increase in the number of people providing over twenty hours of care per week. Evidence has shown that the caring role can often significantly affect the health and wellbeing of the carer, their ability to access leisure activities and can create challenges to moving into or holding down paid employment

Carers play a crucial role in social care provision and are therefore a valued part of our extended workforce.

Discover how we are making Walsall Carers Count  our most recent stragtegy document on support for carers; we are currently in the middle of extensive consultation to inform a new Carers Strategy from 2015.

You may also take a look at the Confident To Care  workshops that were launched in March 2013. We have struggled to connect with enough carers seeking these courses to make design & delivery valid, but we will shortly have a fresh Carers Aware course, plan sessions from april 2015, and remind all carers that they can access most of our existing courses for free.

Both of these areas will be informed by the new statutory duties arising from the Care Act, with guidance due over the autumn, and changes to be in place for April 2015

Carers in the Workforce will provide you with information on carers in paid employment.

View our Learning & Development Calendarto access and book onto any of our FREE accredited and other essential courses to develop skills and knowledge to support your caring role.

Speak to one of the Workforce Development Consultants to discuss your learning needs or enquire about the course content, how long the course event will take, where the event will take place and local transport links;

Telephone  01922 655541: email  workforcedevelopment@walsall.gov.uk  or write to us 

 

 

Latest News