Carer support

Note on terminology: Anyone who ‘who looks after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of their illness, frailty, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction and cannot cope without their support’ can be classified as a carer (NHS England, 2022). Not everybody who falls into this group will consider themselves to be carers.
As highlighted Chapter Two of this mental health needs assessment, carers are more likely to experience poor mental health and may face specific barriers to accessing mental health support.
In 2021, unpaid carers were estimated to provide care worth £1,549 million in Cambridgeshire, and £557 million in Peterborough (Petrillo & Bennett, 2021).
There are three main organisations that provide support to carers in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough: Caring Together, Centre 33 and Making Space.

Caring Together

Caring Together provides a range of support for carers, including:

A specialist carers helpline
Information and advice, including around emergency planning
Carers hubs
Breaks from caring
Counselling
One-to-one support from carer advisers

This includes a ‘What if’ service, which provides support for adults with care needs if there is an emergency involving their carer. This support is available 24/7.

Caring Together raises awareness of carers amongst employers, health organisations and community groups through the Carer Friendly Tick accreditation scheme. The map below shows organisations which have received the Carer Friendly Tick.

Figure 79: Map showing organisations that have received the Carer Friendly Tick. Image source: Caring Together

Centre 33

Centre 33 provides support to young carers (aged 8 – 18) in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. This service offers young carers needs assessment, individual and group support and support with life transitions (such as moving to secondary school or entering the workplace). The Young Carers Advisory Board provides young carers with the opportunity to share their experiences and views.

Making Space

Making Space run the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Carer Support Service for adults (aged 18+) who care for someone with a mental health condition. They provide one-on-one support, specialist information and advice, and signposting to other services.

How many people access this service?

From April 2021 to September 2021, between 150 to 200 carers accessed Making Space each quarter.

Figure 80: Number of carers accessing Making Space Carer Support Service, April 2021 – September 2023.

The majority of the carers who accessed the service were female. An increasing proportion of people accessing this service age added between 51 and 60 years, and 65+.

Figure 81: Age group of carers accessing Making Space Carer Support Service, April 2021 – September 2023.

What do people say about this service?

Charity Fundraising Ltd were commissioned to undertake an independent evaluation of Making Space. They used two surveys, one in 2021 (61 responses) and another in 2023 (56 responses). This evaluation found that up to 98% of carers felt that support provided to them was ‘good’ or ‘very good’, with up to 98% saying they would recommend the service that supported them. There were high levels of satisfaction for:

the staff and volunteer teams (98%)
timing of support (97%)
accessibility of support (up to 97%)

Key areas for impact were that carers felt better supported in their caring role (up to 93%) and they felt heard, recognised and valued (up to 90%).

Figure 82: Key impacts of all-age carers services (upper limit scores), 2022/23. Data source: Evaluation of All-Age Carers Service

Rethink Carer Support Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Rethink Carers Support is a support group support specifically for people who have a friend or family member with a mental health condition. This support group is visited by speakers, have a large amount of local knowledge and experience, and constantly welcomes new carers.

Additional resources

References

Full list of references is included at the end of this chapter.