Westminster Carers Service

Carers Week Fundraising Summer Fete

judith — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:52:41 +0000

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

Counselling support for carers

judith — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:36:48 +0000

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 – Recent publications on Carers Rights

judith — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:22:26 +0000

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

Carers Time Bank lunch a resounding success

judith — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:32:37 +0000

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.

Wild at Heart star supports Carers Time Bank

judith — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:59:54 +0000

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.

Newsletter March 2012 – Training special

judith — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:38:13 +0000

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.

Timebanking UK New Year Party

judith — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:25:34 +0000

Timebanking UK held its annual New Year’s Party in style at Cafe de Paris, in London on Monday 31st January. Time bank brokers, members, and friends all came together to celebrate another fantastic year for time banks in the UK; from the launch of the new Timebanking website, to the spread of ever more Time banks across the kingdom. Time banking has really flourished in the last couple of years, with over 250 branches through the UK. London alone has over 40 time banks.

The party went with a swing with tasty food, lots of champagne and great tunes from The Red Stripe Band, featuring Neil from West End Time Bank, who really got the party going and gave everyone the chance to dance to some old school classics.

Members from Westminster Carers Time Bank joined in with the fun and danced the night away. If you’d like to find out more about the Westminster Carers Time Bank, the only time bank specially dedicated to supporting carers, contact us and speak to Sushi. Alternatively, if you’d like to find a Time Bank in your area, you can do so on the TimeBanking UK website

Time Bank January event

judith — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:16:22 +0000

January 24th saw the first Time Bank event of the New Year. Westminster Carers Time Bank members got together to work out some skills exchanges. Despite a wet and cold day lots of members made it to St Ann’s in Soho. They also made lots of very nice food for the meeting and thoroughly enjoyed getting together as these pictures show. We’ll be holding a coffee morning in February – another chance for timebank members to get together. If you’re not yet a member, come along to find out what the time bank can do for you or contact Sushi for more information about the carers time bank.

Carers Time Bank members event 24th January

judith — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:30:49 +0000

The next Carers Time Bank event will be a coffee morning, with snacks and food of course! Come along: 11.00- 1.30 at St. Anne’s Soho, 55 Dean Street, London W1D 6AF January 24th

If you didn’t make it to the December Festive Event you missed out on the mince pies, so try to make it to meet other timebank members and catch up with the latest skills offers and exchanges in the time bank.

Carers need a break, too

judith — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:37:52 +0000

The Guardian – January 10th

Read this personal account written by a parent of three disabled children sharing her experience and just how important respite and support is to enable carers to lead ordinary lives.