Gateshead Carers Association

£107,822 (2008/2011) for the Carers Action Forum

A Campaigns and Development Worker supported the work of the Forum, which was set up by Gateshead Carers Association. A two-year programme of policy work and campaigning was developed around issues concerning carers in the borough. A project steering group was set up involving policy and research workers. In May 2010 MHF’s Trustees agreed to extend funding for a third year.

Policy impacts and outcomes

• In its response to proposals set out in ‘The Social Fund: a New Approach’, the Forum welcomed a more proactive role around more structured financial advice and budgeting, and promotion of access to a wider range of financial services but objected to the proposed interest rate (APR 26.8%) and lack of research into the debt of certain groups. The Forum’s objections to grants being replaced by loans were quoted as was its suggestion that grants should be more widely available to carers.
• Three local MPs, David Clelland, Sharon Hodgson and Dave Anderson, attended a Meet Your MP event on the same day that national protest marches took place in London and Edinburgh, and pledged follow-up.
• David Clelland put down an Early Day Motion requesting a debate on Carers Allowances and the inadequacy of the current benefits. As a guest on the TV Politics Show, he addressed issues facing carers. The Forum and other Carers’ Centres in the region provided case studies for the programme.
• Over 4,000 signatures were collected for a petition for benefits to be paid to all carers. David Clelland arranged for the petition to be taken to Downing Street and for the Forum to meet with Jonathan Shaw, the then Minister for Disabled People.
• On the day that the petition was handed in, the Green Paper ‘Shaping the Future of Care Together’ was presented to Parliament. The Forum contributed views on the proposals for changes to allowances and payment methods at a national stakeholder event.
• The Carers Action Forum held a meeting with the Regional Secretary of the TUC to discuss the carers’ allowance, more flexibility for working carers and, especially in view of personal budgets etc., the opening up of Trade Union membership to carers. Unison, in particular, has responded positively. It was also intended to promote these issues via the Regional Employability Network.
• The Carers Action Forum invited all three local candidates from the major parties in the General Election to visit the Association’s office to meet carers in order for them to understand better carers’ issues and how the respective political parties could support the Forum’s agenda.
• In association with New Skills Consulting the project worked intensively on the Gateshead Carers Survey and an in depth household survey with a view to the final report being available for national Carers Week in June 2011.
• The major output of the project in 2010/2011, its third and final year, was the updated Gateshead Carers Survey, which was launched at a joint event with Gateshead Borough Council during Carers Week in June 2011. The Survey’s findings include how caring impacts on carers’ income, assets, quality of life and health. They reveal that many carers do not know where to go for help and support. The conclusions and recommendations will inform future campaigning, fundraising and service provision. A smaller in-depth Household Survey, undertaken alongside the main Survey, investigated the experiences of a small number of family carers in greater detail. It is intended to roll out the Survey findings as part of the Association’s work of engaging with the public to raise awareness of carers’ issues.
• Further work to raise employers’ awareness of the need for support systems, and of carers’ rights, was aimed at encouraging employers to adopt carer-friendly policies and practices. A meeting was held with the organizers of North East Better Health at Work, which works with 31 employers sub-regionally and 500 regionally. The employers included Gateshead Borough Council, Gateshead Housing Company, Gateshead NHS Foundation, South of the Tyne and Wear PCT, Ikea and the Sage. Communication was also developed with trades unions, including NASUWT, NUT, the Public & Commercial Services Union and Unison and there been constructive engagement with Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith communities.
• GCA is represented on a range of local forums and partnerships. The Campaigns and Development Worker and staff of Gateshead Council’s Democratic Services Section worked together to promote Carers Week and the Carers Survey and she helped to ensure that carers met with, and questioned, members of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee for Healthier Communities. GCA has been represented at regional forums, including the South of the Tyne Patient, User and Carer Involvement Forum, the Matrons’ Caring for Carers Group and VONNE’s Policy & Representation Forum, and has developed links with ippr north. The Carers Survey was circulated to regional and national policy-makers, including MPs, Ministers and civil servants. GCA is keeping a watching brief on legislative changes affecting carers.
• The Carers Action Forum has been re-invigorated. It has decided on the following priorities: financial support for carers through employment and benefits; information and feedback available through Council Services; carers’ health, and funding for services. Future work will include continuation of engagement with the bodies listed above. Scope for closer relationships and joint action will be explored with the Princess Royal Carers Trust Centres in Newcastle, North and South Tyneside, Sunderland, Durham , Chester-le Street and Derwentside.

© The Millfield House Foundation 2010. Registered Charity No. 271180.