CARERS...
Look after family, partners or friends in need of help.
Because they are ill, frail or have a disability.
The care they provide is unpaid.
THE CHEPSTOW AND CALDICOT CARERS' SUPPORT GROUP
Chairman: Hermione Ford (01291-689233)
Secretary: Patsy Lewis (01291-420602)
Office: 'Cobblers Pitch', Highmoor Hill,
Caerwent, Monmouthshire NP26 5PF
Dear Carer,
At our April meeting we welcomed Joyce Jenkins, the new manager of Monmouthshire Crossroads. Many of our Carers have already spoken to Joyce as they use the service, but have not met her, so it was good to put a face to the voice! Joyce has not worked in a Crossroads scheme before but has been a manager of home-care services. One of the things that surprised her was the fact that many of the Crossroads Care Attendants have been working with Monmouthshire Crossroads for many years. This is a good sign as many similar organisations have difficulty in recruiting and retaming staff. That is one of the great benefits for Carers. They get to know the people who come in and help so well that they often become firiends.
For those of you who have not come across Crossroads yet, it is a Care Attendant Scheme to relieve Carers and give them a regular or one-off break. We have two schemes in this area. Monmouthshire Crossroads, based in Usk, and which cares for Carers who look after people with a physical disability in this area, and the Chepstow and Caldicot Scheme which is based in the Library in Chepstow. This is a specialised scheme which offers support to Carers who care for people with Alzheimer's and Dementia. You can contact these schemes directly and ask for help. They offer quality, reliable and well-trained Care Attendants to come and care for the person you care for. There is no charge for the service. However, they would not reject any donations!
Monmouthshire Crossroads: 01291 672750
Chepstow and Caldicot Crossroads: 01291 635632
CARERS WEEK: 9th - 14th June
Those of you who have been members for some time will know that this is a busy week in raising awareness of what Carers do and trying to identic more carers who do not realise that there is help and sup- port available. To this end we have information stalls in Somerfield's supermarket in Caldicot on Tuesday 10th June and in Tesco's in Chepstow on Friday 13th June. Some of our members have offered to help man the stalls throughout the day for an hour or two. If anyone else can spare an hour to help, I would be very grateftil. We shall just be handing out leaflets to people to let them know what we are about. This year we have some Carers Week T-shirts to wear! We shall also have a stand at Chepstow Community Hospital and that will be manned when possible during visiting time. Again, if anyone would like to help with that, please contact me.
Maxine Smillie, the Carers Development Worker for Monmouthshire, is organising 'Surgeries' for the supermarkets' employees to access information and support. This will be done by the Carers Assessment Workers. We want to demonstrate to local employers that Carers do have special needs and that if employers are 'Carer Friendly', it can make life easier all round. There is going to be an award for the most 'Carer Friendly' Employer during the week!
CARERS DAY
Boverton House, Thursday June 12th, 10:00am - 3:30pm
During Carers Week we always have a special Carers Day when invitations are sent out to lots of new Carers who perhaps do not know what we do. The day is about meeting other Carers, having some pampering and useful discussions.
This year, we have someone from the new Local Health Board to come to speak to us. The Local Health Board is the organisation that decides what services will be provided locally by Health and Social Services. This will be an interesting session. Also, the representative for Carers on the Board will be with us, Ruth Iles. Her role is to speak on the Board on behalf of Carers and to push for Carers Issues to be discussed.
We shall also have a workshop in the afternoon on "Opportunities", which is the theme for the week. This itself will be an opportunity for carers to say what they feel would be an opportunity for them to do or achieve something, even though they are caring for someone. This could be attending a regular class, the chance to have a meal out once a week, or just the opportunity to have the house to yourself one day a week and the person you care for taken out.
For some Carers it may mean trying to hold a job down while caring. We all have different ideas about opportunities. We can then discuss how these opportunities could be realised. I have asked Julie Boothroyd, the Partnership Officer for Social Services, to help to organise this.
PLEASE NOTE: This special day is instead of our regular first Thursday of the month meeting. Please contact me if you would like to come for catering purposes.
I now have a very tidy and up to date Holiday File. This is for people who need to have special accommodation that caters for the elderly/disabled. If anyone would like to borrow it, please contact me and we can arrange collection.
Charging Policy Review
Latest News: The Welsh Assembly has given Local Authorities another year to organise their charging policy review. This means that nothing will happen until next April at the earliest. However, the Welsh Assembly has a Labour majority and their manifesto talked about free Community Care Services!
This must be good news for Carers, but we will have to wait and see if it really happens. I am sure that Carers Wales will be keeping a close eye on this topic.
If you want a chat I am at Gray Hill Surgery on Monday and Wednesday mornings from 10:00am-12:00 mid-day. Anyone, subscribers or not, can come and see me there.
Ring 01291-420282 for an appointment or take a chance and pop in!
For transport to meetings contact Nan Smith on 01291-421665 or Fran Green on 01633 881142.
Best wishes,
Patsy Lewis.
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