Westminster Carers Service

Save the date in your diary! Tuesday June 19th As part of Carers week we are holding a fundraising Summer Fete in Soho Square W1 – 2 minutes from Oxford Street tube station – on Tuesday 19th June. The Carers Time Bank and the West End Time Bank are combining efforts to put on a day of fun and entertainment. There will be stalls selling refreshments – including strawberries and cream! there will be a plant sale, cakes to make your mouth water, live music and entertainment and much much more! Watch this space for more details! Volunteers welcomed from 9.30 to 4.30. Contact us if you’d like to come along and help to make the day a fundraising bonanza. Tell your friends to come along too and be part of the much, much more!

Download the flyer here

The Counselling Directory

Counselling is a form of therapy that provides individuals with extra emotional support and an outlet for their feelings during times of need.

As many of you will know, becoming a carer is a life changing experience. For some people caring can present them with emotions that are difficult to deal with.  Counselling is an effective tool that can help carers to understand, explore and address their  feelings in a neutral environment where  individuals are able to talk about  their emotions without feeling guilty, selfish or feeling that they are being judge.  If you think you might benefit from the help of a qualified counsellor or psychotherapist, who will provide you with emotional support to help you cope with your caring responsibilities and to move forward with a more positive outlook,  visit the Counselling Directory website for more information.

Caring can trigger many different emotions and anyone coping with the following issues may find counselling to be of benefit:

• anger, anxiety,  debt, depression
• guilt, mental health problems, relationship problems
• resentment, stress, bereavement

If you’d like to find a counsellor in your area you can search the Counselling Directory which lists counsellors and psychotherapists who are registered with a recognised professional body.

Community Care and the Law

Authors Luke Clements and Pauline Thompson

Community Care and the Law has become the leading text for lawyers, policy workers, local authorities and voluntary sector advisers and carers. ‘This gem of a book … sets out everything you could possibly want to know about community care law and practice (and much that you didn’t know existed) … I would urge you to buy this book.’ Mind  Unfortunately it’s rather expensive, so we’ve bought a copy and if anyone would like to read it, it’s here in the office. It’s recommended reading so please make good use of it.

Another recent publication from the same author is  Carers and their Rights – the law relating to carers. This can be downloaded as a free PDF from Professor Luke Clements’ website and outlines the principal rights of carers to support from the health and social services authorities as they apply in England and Wales

Over 100 people attended the Carers Time Bank lunch at Rhodes W1 Brasserie at the Cumberland Hotel on 1st March. The three course lunch menu was delicious and the service excellent and everyone had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. After lunch, special guest, actor Stephen Tompkinson, star of ITV’s drama Wild at Heart, posed for pictures with carers and staff from Westminster Carers Service and signed autographs.  Sarah Bird from Timebanking UK spoke about the growing number of time banks in London and the UK. 30 new Carers Time Bank members signed up at the lunch. We’ll be announcing more time bank events in the future, so watch this space.

 

Here are some more pictures from the Carers Time Bank Big Lunch event.

Westminster Carers Time Bank is pleased to announce that actor Stephen Tompkinson (Wild at Heart) will attend its Big Lunch event at the Rhodes W1 Brasserie on Thursday 1st March to lend his support to the Carers Time Bank. Carers from all over Westminster interested in becoming members were invited to the lunch. The time bank already has 35 members and a further 50 wanting to know more about what the Carers Time Bank can do for them will be attending.

You can download the March Newsletter here. It has some interesting new training sessions on offer for both our staff and carers. There is a Good employer workshop and working with a Personal Assistant for carers who will be using personal budgets as well as a dementia awareness workshop. There is also IT training for both staff and carers who want to use the new Book a Break booking system and lots more.

Visit the training page for more information about training and to download the March Training programme.