Support and advice for unpaid carers

Advocacy means someone to speak on your behalf. VoiceAbility is commissioned by Peterborough City Council and is a partnership led by VoiceAbility in association with Cambridgeshire Deaf Association and the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS).

VoiceAbility offers advocacy support to adults and carers, as well as children and young people, looked after or in need. The service supports people with physical disabilities, learning disabilities, autism, mental ill health, sensory impairment, social or health care needs and NHS health complaints.

Mobilise offer free online support to unpaid carers.  

Find more information on their website Mobilise.

What is a carer break?

We all need to take a break from caring from time to time. A quiet hour, a regular weekly slot, a day off, an undisturbed night's sleep, a weekend away or a whole week. Sometimes, this is known as ‘respite’. Having a break means that the person you care for may stay in a care home, receive homecare support from paid carers, or spends time with family or friends. Also known as ‘respite care’.​​​​​​​

We all have very different circumstances and caring situations but here are some ideas to think about to help you have a break.

Can family or friends help?

Can your friends and family help you with your caring responsibilities? Maybe they can support for a couple of hours (or even a night?).

It may take planning and possibly some compromise, but perhaps it will be worth if it enables you to take a break. It might take a combination of people. Think flexibly about what would work for you. You could also consider a caring trade with someone else - like an old-fashioned childcare circle.

Do you have some savings or disposable income?

If you do have savings or some disposable income, paying for care for the person you care for either through an agency or someone you already employ might be an option.

Micro Respite

Sometimes getting a break from your caring role may not feel as simple as it seems. When you don't have much time on your side, short 10 or 20-minute breaks are all you can fit in. These small moments of wellbeing are kind of like little time-outs. Example- walking the dog, having a coffee somewhere whilst listening to some favourite music.

Respite Care

There are 21 Respite Care facilities in Peterborough offering a range of specialities. These include:

• Alzheimer's
• Arthritis
• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Cancer Care
• Cerebral Palsy
• Colitis & Crohn's Disease
• Diabetes
• Down Syndrome
• Epilepsy
• Head/Brain Injury
• Heart Conditions
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Muscular Dystrophy
• Parkinson's Disease
• Speech Impairment
• Stroke
• Schizophrenia

Please note these are not funded and you have to pay for them yourself.

Funding/Support for breaks, respite and holidays

Peterborough City Council

You can ask us for a carers assessment to help us better understand your needs. Completing this assessment allows us to create a carer support plan with you. Support may include respite to give you a break from you caring role or funding for activities that help you take a break. Find out more on our Carers Assessment page.

Holiday options

You can find details of organisations that can support you with holidays on the directory by searching the directory. Results from the directory on carers breaks

These include:

• Carefree
• After Umbridge
• The Respite Association
• Something to Look Forward to

If you would like support in booking a break for you and the person you care for this useful document has been put together by mobilise online Carers’ guide to booking a holiday

Access a specialist worker to plan support for you

Family carers of any age can approach their GP for a prescription that provides access to a specialist worker at Caring Together who will support you, offer information and advice and work with you to design a short break from your caring responsibilities.

Information can be found on Caring Together.

Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards

There is legislation that covers the support and care of people who lack the mental capacity to make decisions about their care or treatment, which is called the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards are part of the Act and they aim to protect people in care homes, hospitals and supported living from being inappropriately deprived of their liberty.

The safeguards have been put in place to make sure that a care home, hospital or authority arranging supported living only restricts someone's liberty safely and correctly, and that this is done when there is no other way to take care of that person safely.

It’s important that you can help the person you care for to move safely and that you don’t damage your body (your back especially), or theirs.

The links below will help guide you on how to do this safely.

Action for carers has a number of videos to support you.

View their Moving and Handling videos web page.

Further information can also be found on the Marie Curie How to help someone walk, sit and stand web page. 

If the person you care for has difficulty walking, you may be eligible for a Blue Badge entitling you to easier parking.

Follow this link to find out more and apply on the council's Blue Badge parking scheme web page.

This information needs to move to the Dementia page.

This section includes some information on supporting someone who has dementia.

The Alzheimer’s Society can provide telephone support for carers of people with dementia.

Dementia UK has information for families looking after someone with dementia.

Dementia Carers Count has information to help dementia carers

A Zoom friendship group for carers

If you care for a relative or a friend with mental health challenges, please join our Zoom Friendship Group, which we hold every Friday at 2pm, especially if you feel you have nowhere to turn to – but also if you have come through hard times and want to give something back to others who care.

You can join the meeting every Friday by using the Zoom Network Group link.

For information, contact john.nicholson@cpft.nhs.uk

The Alzheimer’s Society Intensive Support Project

The Alzheimer’s Society are offering an Intense Support Service to Carers who are in crisis, those whose health is affected by caring, those whose situations are close to breaking down, prevention of hospital admission and those who have loved ones in hospital where we hope that by education and understanding we can expedite discharge.

When patients are referred, to them, they contact them within 24 hours and going forward will contact them every day during the first week. During these calls they will work with them to increase their understanding of Dementia, they will identify and suggest strategies that may help overcome difficulties they are experiencing; when required we will make referrals to other agencies; they will work with them to increase their emotional resilience and very importantly provide a listening ear.

They continue to offer intense support to get people through the difficulty they face, our goal is to get them to weekly call and once the situation is stable, they offer keeping in touch calls.

Evidence from the first year is that that this project has made a significant difference to carers who have used the service.

If you have anyone who could benefit from our help and support, please don’t hesitate to contact them.

They now have a dedicated phone line and email for the project.

To make referrals or speak to staff involved in the project please call them on 01223 620962

or email cambridgeshiredementia@alzheimers.org.uk

Advice for carers of people with dementia at risk of going missing

Here are some things you can do to help stop people with dementia going missing, and help find them if they do. The information is published on the Cambridgeshire Constabulary website.

View the Cambridgeshire Constabulary Advice for carers of people with dementia at risk of going missing web page

Combining paid work with caring for someone?

Three million people (1 in 9 of the workforce) combine caring for someone with paid work.

However, the significant demands of caring mean that many are forced to give up work altogether.  Carers need to be supported so they are able to juggle work and care and to enable them to return to work if they wish.

Contact Caring Together for support for working carers.

Government website to support working carers

There are lots of hints and tips on the website 'Working and supporting someone's health or care'.

The website includes information on:

• Support from employers
• Support with caring
• Financial support and advice
• Tips if you are looking for work whilst caring
• Thinking of taking a break from work to look after someone

As parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, we tend to focus on meeting the needs of our children, young people and family members.

If you are a parent carer you can find lots of useful information on our dedicated page of the SEND Information Hub (Local Offer).

Support, Advice and Information for Parent Carers and Carers