Carers Week 9 to 15 June 2025

Today, Monday 9 June, sees the start of Carers Week here in the UK.

What is Carers Week?

Carers Week is a yearly campaign that aims to highlight the challenges faced by carers, and recognise the outstanding contribution that unpaid carers make to their families, friends and communities up and down the UK.

Anyone who looks after a family member or friend who has a mental or physical illness, a disability, an addiction, or requires additional support as they age, is a carer.

Caring responsibilities can have a huge impact on the carer’s life, both day-to-day and long term, affecting relationships, health, finances, school and work. In some cases, the individuals involved might be unaware they’ve become a carer as the transition from short-term help to long-term care can sometimes be subtle.

Therefore, another aim of Carers Week is to help people recognise if they’ve become an unpaid carer, signpost what help might be available, and encourage them to reach out for help when they need it.

For more information, please visit www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/

Carers at The Brightwell

Here at The Brightwell, we recognise that a large proportion of our members rely on their partners, children, siblings and friends to be their Primary Carer.

We appreciate the amount of hard work and dedication this requires, often on a 24/7 basis.

We have recently set up a Carers Support Group, coordinated by Wendy Patterson. This group has held several talks, and we have set up an information point for carers to the right of the Café.

Our next talk takes place this Thursday, 12 June, at 2 pm.

Please come along and join us to hear an informative talk by team members from the Sirona NHS Specialist Falls Service, who will be presenting a session about the Prevention and Management of Falls.

We also invite Carers to become a “Centre Friend”  for an annual subscription of just £35. This entitles the individual to enjoy any therapies, including the Specialist Clinic sessions at the subsidised suggested contribution rate. We know a number of carers find having a massage, acupuncture or reflexology very beneficial, and these sessions offer the opportunity to have a break and relax.

On behalf of each and every member of our extended Brightwell Community, we would like to thank all carers, both paid and unpaid, for the amazing work they do. We could not manage without you!