Skip to main content

Carers Week 2025

Monday 9th June 2025

This Carers Week, we’re proud to support the national theme “Caring About Equality” recognising that all carers, regardless of age, background or circumstance, deserve equal access to support services and opportunities. This means recognising, respecting, and valuing differences in people so that everyone feels included.

Who is a carer and what do they do?

A carer is anyone who looks after a family member or friend who has a disability, mental or physical illness, addiction, or who needs extra help as they grow older. Carers take on a huge responsibility, which impacts their lives in many ways, including emotionally, financially, and practically, which can affect their mental and physical health.

How many carers are there?

The Census 2021 data revealed that there are 310,740 individuals who identified themselves as unpaid carers in Wales. This is 10.5% of the population, whereas the number of unpaid carers in England equates to 8.9% of the population. We know carers do not always identify themselves, so this figure is likely to be much higher.

 

Tuesday 10th June 2025

What does equality mean for carers?  

Rights and equality cover all aspects of carers lives, from their finances, receiving support, their ability to juggle work and care, to having freedom from discrimination and accessing services.

 

Equality and Discrimination: 

  • Association Discrimination: The Equality Act 2010 protects carers from discrimination if they are treated less favourably because they are associated with someone who is protected by the law due to their age or disability.

  • Discrimination: Carers can also experience direct discrimination if they are treated unfairly solely because of their caring role.

  • Workplace: Carers may be treated unfairly or unfavourably when balancing and expectations due to their caring commitments.

  • Legal Rights: Carers already have some legal rights under the Equality Act 2010, including the right to request flexible working and time off for dependants. The Carer's Leave Act 2023 provides employees in England, Wales, and Scotland with one week's unpaid leave per year to care for someone with a long-term care need.

 

Wednesday 11th June 2025 

Supporting carers in healthcare 

Caring without the right information and support can be tough and equal access to health and social care services, with the same opportunities for support, regardless of location or individual circumstances is important. We work with GPs, hospital teams, and community services identifying, supporting, and empowering carers as early as possible. We are also supporting carers with hospital discharge processes by having Carers Information Hubs at 5 of our hospital sites, supporting language and culture for diverse communities and helping with supporting carers when someone returns to where they were living following a hospital stay. We continue to encourage our staff to ask the question, “is someone looking after you?”  

 

Supporting carers in social care    

For support services  equality means  being tailored and adapted according to individual need, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.- Did you know ? Carers have a legal right to have an assessment of their needs ? These are done by the Local authority and  are sometimes called a what matters to you conversations. More information can be found here: Carers' Assessments (BSL) 

There are also lots of activities and information being shared during carers week. Contact your local authority to find out more.

 

Thursday 12th June 2025 

Young carers face unique challenges as they balance school, work, and caring responsibilities. We work with schools to identify young carers earlier, raise awareness, and provide tailored support so they can balance caring responsibilities with their education and wellbeing. We support through our Young Carers in Schools Programme. We support the young carer identification scheme across Gwent. Find out more here: Recognition in schools vital to help young carers thrive | GOV.WALES 

Don’t forget to check out our primary-school age young carers book “It’s Cool to Care,“ written by young carers in Gwent: Gwent Regional Partnership Board - YouTube 

  

Supporting carers with financial wellbeing 

The impact of caring affects all aspects of life, including finances. According to Carers Wales, research shows that unpaid carers are more at risk of poverty than the rest of the population. An estimated 100,000 unpaid carers live in poverty in Wales. This may be because long hours of unpaid care make it difficult for carers to stay in employment or due to unpaid carers having to stop working or reduce their hours at work to care.

We take active steps to support carers' financial wellbeing as part of our wider commitment to equity and inclusion. We help connect carers to practical help to relieve pressure and improve quality of life. The Small Grant Scheme operates within Gwent and offers a range of support grants such as white goods, breaks and courses for both adult and young carers. The Gwent Short Break scheme is also available through the Local Authority.

 

Friday 13th June 2025

Carers in employment  

We know that empowering carers in the workplace leads to a stronger, healthier workforce.

Unpaid carers often face the challenge of balancing their demanding caring roles with the need to work. We understand that many of our own colleagues are also carers, and we are dedicated to providing the necessary support. We are helping to create workplaces that value flexibility, wellbeing, and inclusion through our workforce policies. Carers can request flexible working, join their local carers staff forums, have carers leave entitlements. When carers are supported in the workplace, they are better able to focus on their caregiving responsibilities, enhancing their productivity and wellbeing.

  

The Carers Voice

We take opportunities to reflect, listen, and recommit to making our services more inclusive for carers. Carers are valued partners in care and are part of helping us plan our services. We also use the Gwent Carers hub to host the Carers Voice Panel - a monthly online meeting where carers discuss topics affecting their lives and provide feedback on services and policies. Carers are part of strategic partnerships and we welcome carers being part of the planning and development of how our services.