00:00Naresh Katerina from Carers First joins me on the line now.
00:03Naresh, thank you very much for joining us this evening.
00:05First of all, can you just tell me what Carers Week is all about?
00:09Why has this week been set up?
00:12Well, Carers Week is organised by Carers UK, Carers Trust UK.
00:18They have a theme every year, and this year the theme is all about caring about equalities.
00:24We know that unpaid carers are unrecognised.
00:29There's research to suggest that there's nearly half of all UK adults that provide unpaid care at some point in their life,
00:37which equates to around 11.9 million individuals currently providing unpaid care to support their family members and friends who are ill, with a disability or older.
00:50Their contribution is vital to society and often come at their own personal cost, as we hear Chris and Sarah's own personal story.
00:59It can take up to two years before someone actually recognises themselves as a carer.
01:05They may be gradually doing that caring role, maybe a couple of hours a week.
01:10And then over time that would increase because the cared for, their medical condition, physical and mental, will deteriorate.
01:20I suppose that's one of the main concerns, isn't it?
01:23That if carers are not even knowing or recognising themselves that they are an unpaid carer,
01:28that they're having to give up their time for this and they're realising that they do fall into this category,
01:33then how else is the rest of society supposed to, you know, get involved and recognise this?
01:38Well, during this week, because of Carers Week, there's themes every day.
01:44And one of our main events that's taking place on Thursday in Medway is all around raising the awareness
01:50with our local residents, inviting our local carers, but also all our partners and organisations that we work closely with.
01:59Carers First is commissioned by Medway Council.
02:02We work closely with social services, with DWP and also the voluntary sector.
02:09And on Thursday, we've got over 10 organisations that are going to come along and talk about how they support our carers in the community.
02:17And it's an opportunity for all carers to find out what is available and what support is available
02:23and how we at Carers First can support them around their own physical, mental needs,
02:32but also ensure that they are entitled to receive a carer's assessment via the local authority.
02:39And we will do that all the way through in supporting that carer.
02:43I think that's one of the big questions as well, isn't it?
02:46Because obviously there are the effects that caring for somebody and devoting so much time has on a person,
02:51as we heard from in Kristen's report there.
02:53But there is a lot of sort of paperwork and the admin that has to be sort of dealt with as well.
02:58And I think that's some of the support that you provide at Carers First as well.
03:03Absolutely.
03:04It is a minefield, I mean, to navigate through, you know, the social and health and social care system.
03:10But our support workers are very experienced and qualified and they're able to support those carers
03:17from having that first conversation and identifying what their needs are.
03:22What do they need immediately?
03:24And then put together a support plan to actually help handhold them all the way through that process
03:30to ensure that they get that financial support, they get the support from social services,
03:35and also making sure that their GP recognises them as a carer as well.
03:42Absolutely.
03:43And I suppose one of the other great advantages of this week and the services that you offer as well
03:48is that sense of community as well, to know that carers aren't alone in their journey.
03:54Absolutely.
03:55And also, we mustn't forget about young carers.
03:59You know, we know that young carers are underrepresented.
04:01We know that, you know, there are at least two pupils in each classroom that may be a carer,
04:08but the teachers and staff may not recognise them or those young carers may not want to come forward.
04:15So at Carers First, we also provide activities working alongside the schools
04:21and offering after-school activities for those young carers.
04:25And again, we've got a series of activities happening throughout the week to support those young carers
04:31as well as older carers.
04:33Yeah, of course.
04:33Young carers, of course, another huge part of the conversation.
04:37Just before we wrap up, Naresh, can you just let us know how anybody who feels like they may need to get involved
04:43and reach out to you, how can they do so?
04:45Absolutely.
04:47If they go onto our website, really easy to find.
04:50It's www.carersfirst.org.uk.
04:55There's a whole host of information.
04:58It's really easy to find any information and all our activities and support,
05:03and that's on offer locally in Medway.
05:06Well, Naresh, thank you very much for joining us today.
