During Carers Week, I want to recognise the work that carers do across the county and take the opportunity to thank them for the incredible contribution they make to people’s lives.  They play an amazing role and their commitment and support to others is truly humbling. 

Caring is something that is genuinely life changing. Those who care for others – their loved ones, family members, friends and neighbours – commit countless hours of their time to ensure people are looked after, in the place where they live. For those who are being cared for, their carers are a lifeline and for many, represent contact with the outside world.

We recognise the immense contribution that unpaid carers make, on a personal level to the people they care for, and to society as whole. Nationally, 26 percent of adults provided care during the height of the pandemic.

At the last census, there were 82,172 carers within Nottinghamshire, of which 24,499 were providing over 50 hours of care each week. Seventy percent of our carers are female, and we have 1735 young carers under 18 years old.

While we know that caring for someone can be incredibly rewarding, we also know that it can be a huge challenge. We’ve been working with carers to produce our joint Carers Strategy, listening to the things that they want to see and things that would make a difference to their caring role. This includes things like providing short breaks or replacement care so they could have a break from caring and supporting the carer’s health and wellbeing. 

We have put support in place for our unpaid carers, through Nottinghamshire Carers Hub | TuVida, which provides information, advice, guidance and a range of activities where carers can get together and share their experiences and seek support. This includes making sure that our younger carers have access to the right help too.

We greatly value our carers. We recognise the part that they play in providing care to some of our more vulnerable residents and we know what a difference they make.

Councillor Matt Barney
Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health