Caring for Carer's Network at IPO

Every day 6000 people become carers. It can happen to any of us, sometimes very suddenly. Many carers don’t know how or where to get help. It can be frightening and lonely. The IPO Caring for Carers Network wants IPO staff with caring responsibilities to know they are not alone, there are people who understand the difficulties they face and we want carers to be able to access the help and support available at IPO.

Things we’re most proud of this year

• We have continued to provide signposting, guidance and a kind listening ear to carers who have reached out to us.
• We held a series of events to mark Carers Week 11 -17 June 2019, including an information and advice stand run by Carers Wales, a drop-in coffee session, and an information stand promoting the Carers Passport
• We have worked more collaboratively with the Health and Wellbeing Team, for example we worked together to publish a story to raise awareness of diabetes by sharing the story of an IPO Carer.
• We have shared honest and real personal stories of life as a carer to ensure our carers know they are not alone and raise awareness. The Chair of the network shared a timely personal blog about Caring and Coronavirus at the start of the UK outbreak of COVID-19.

Things we’ll concentrate on next year

• We will ensure that all carers in IPO are aware of the network and feel able to access the advice, signposting and support they require: we will do this through informative articles on our Intranet and Yammer, blogs and coffee drop-in sessions (whether in the office or virtually).
• We will promote the awareness and use of the Carers Passport to all IPO carers and managers: we will do this via managers briefings and Intranet articles.
• We will raise awareness of the difficulties carers experience with the aim of increasing understanding and making carers feel more valued: we will do this by sharing more personal stories from IPO carers.
• We will continue to provide channels for carers to offload their concerns, share their experiences, provide support to one another and easily access professional advice and guidance from relevant agencies and charities: We will do this via coffee drop in sessions, training session (such as Dementia Friends) and providing contact details for other IPO Carers who are happy to have a one-to one chat.
• We will spread the workload for the steering group: we will achieve this by delegating tasks evenly, seeking more steering group members who are willing to be hands-on, and making more use of the Inclusion and Diversity central team.