Carers Focus Newsletter: December 2021

Dear everyone,

Welcome to the December issue of our Carers Focus Newsletter. We hope you and your families are all doing well. As we prepare to begin a new year, we wanted to update you with dates for your diaries and other news. Please do give us a call or email if we can help you with anything. For enquiries, or if you would like to make a referral, you can call us on 0131 322 8480 or email us at info@edinburghcarerscouncil.co.uk

Festive Hours

Our office will be open on Christmas Eve 24th December, and then we will remain closed from Monday 27th December — Tuesday 4th January 2022. We will return to our normal working hours on Wednesday 5th January 2022. If there is an emergency while we are closed, please contact the Edinburgh Crisis Centre which is open 24/7, 365 days of the year and provides emotional and practical support in times of crisis. Free phone: 0808 801 0414 / crisis@edinburghcrisiscentre.org.uk You can also contact the Mental Health Assessment Team by calling 0131 286 8137. 

Carers Forum — Online via Zoom — Thursday, 9th December 2021

Our next Carers Forum will be on Thursday, 9th December from 12:30-2:00pm and will be held online, via Zoom. This Forum will be a great chance to catch up with other carers and ECC staff before the holidays. We will welcome a guest speaker from the Edinburgh Carer Support Team, and there will be opportunities to raise any issues important to you. For more information or to book your place, please email Information & Resource Worker, Rachael, at rachael@edinburghcarerscouncil.co.uk

ECC AGM — Online via Zoom — Friday, 21st January 2022

Our Annual General Meeting for 2021 will be Friday, 21st January 2022 from 12:00- 1:00pm. The meeting will be online, via Zoom. Anyone who is interested in our work from the past year is welcome to attend! Feel free to bring along your lunch while we discuss Edinburgh Carers Council business. Please email rachael@edinburghcarerscouncil.co.uk to book your place.

Carers Peer Support Group — Redhall Gardens — Friday, 28th January 2022

The Carers Group, which meets at Redhall on a monthly basis, will not be meeting in December and will resume on Friday, 28th January 2022 from 2:30-3:30pm. The group is for any carers/ relatives of someone who is living with mental health difficulties. This can include autism, learning disability or dementia. It is a great opportunity to chat to other carers in a lovely spot, with a cup of tea or coffee. For more information about the group, or to book your place in January, please email Rachael at rachael@edinburghcarerscouncil.co.uk or phone 0131 322 8480.

Happy 90th Birthday, Rosie!

We would like to wish a very happy birthday to our dear friend and wonderful lady, Mrs Rosie Schofield, who celebrated her 90th birthday in October of this year. Rosie is someone who many would remember from our past social events and Carers Forums. She has been such a great supporter of Edinburgh Carers Council for several years, and has always gone above and beyond to be involved and raise carer awareness. Rosie has also kindly provided peer support to other carers at Findlay House and Ferryfield House, who were going through a challenging caring situation as she had been through herself. Rosie is an amazing and inspiring individual and we appreciate everything she has done for us as an organisation, and for other carers. Thank you, Rosie!

Volunteer Opportunities

Would you like to volunteer with us at Edinburgh Carers Council? We are looking for volunteers with lived experience as a carer to do peer support work, and for volunteers to be on our Board of Trustees. You don’t need to have experience caring for someone to be a Trustee, but you should have an interest in carers and mental health.

Peer support volunteers utilise their lived experience of caring to help others who may be going through a similar difficult situation. We are looking for volunteers who would like to work with carers one-to-one, and/or to help us facilitate our carers peer support group. Peer support training is provided through Health in Mind and peer volunteers receive regular support and supervision.

Our Board of Trustees is an important part to the running of our organisation. Trustees meet on the last Monday of each month to look at business, and have an Annual General Meeting each year. If you are interested, we can provide you with more information and arrange a telephone conversation with our Coordinator or a member from our Board.

Please get in touch and let us know if you would like to discuss more about either these roles. We would love to hear from you! You can call us on 0131 322 8480 or email Information & Resource Worker, Rachael, at rachael@edinburghcarerscouncil.co.uk

Help us to support carers by donating to Edinburgh Carers Council ☺ To help support us in the work we do you can still donate through our Givey Fundraising Page. Donations will go towards continuing to run our peer support services for carers.

Thank you for your support! Stay safe & take care. We hope that you enjoy the holidays! Our next newsletter will be in Spring 2022. Warm wishes from all of us here at Edinburgh Carers Council.