Carers Focus Newsletter: July 2021

Dear everyone,

We hope you and your friends/family are all doing safe and well. ECC staff are continuing to work both remotely and from our office. We are now able to meet carers in person for advocacy appointments where appropriate; to arrange, please get in touch with your advocacy worker or you can call us on our main office number, 0131 322 8480. If no one is in the office please leave a voicemail and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. You can also email us via the email addresses below.

For General Enquiries or to make a Referral, please email info@edinburghcarerscouncil.co.uk

For Information, or if you want to know more about our Peer Support Services, you can email our Information & Resource Worker, rachael@edinburghcarerscouncil.co.uk

 

Next Carers Forum: Thursday, 19th August 2021. 12:30—2:00pm (Online via Zoom)

Many thanks to all who joined us for our last Carers Forum in April and our Carers Week events in June. Our next Carers Forum meeting will be on Thursday, 19th August from 12:30-2:00 pm.

The Carers Forum is a great opportunity to meet other carers who may be in similar situations. It is a safe space to raise issues that are important to you as a carer so we can then collectively work together to raise carers’ voices and create change. The Carers Forum is also a good place to receive the latest news relating to carers and mental health. We can arrange for speakers to join us at Forums to talk about issues that are meaningful to you.

Please email Rachael at rachael@edinburghcarerscouncil.co.uk for more information or to book your place.

We would also like to hear about any ideas you may have for future Carers Forum topics. The Carers Forum is created for carers and run by carers, and we are aiming to find out what is most important and helpful to you. If there is a specific topic you would like to learn more about, please do let us know.

 

Returning to Face-to-Face Meetings Safely

As COVID-19 restrictions are lifting, we are now able to book in person advocacy appointments. If you would like to meet with your advocacy worker in person, please let them know, or you can give us a call on 0131 322 8480. We continue to practice social distancing measures and masks must be worn throughout the office building. We are not yet meeting in groups indoors, so our Carers Forum and other social events will continue to be held online until advice changes. Our Carers Peer Support Group will be meeting together in person for the first time, outdoors, at Redhall Walled Garden, on Friday 30th July at 2:30pm. The group is for anyone caring for someone with mental health difficulties. If you would like to attend, please email Rachael for further information and to book your place.

 

Carers Group and One-to-One Peer Support Service

Our Carers Group meets on the last Friday of each month at 2:30pm. Join us to chat to other carers, share your experiences, gather information and advice and connect with others. Our next meeting will be on Friday, 30th July 2021 at 2:30pm at Redhall Walled Garden. For more information or to book your place, please email rachael@edinburghcarerscouncil.co.uk We’d love to see you there! Anyone who cares for someone (a relative, friend, neighbour) with mental health difficulties (includes dementia or learning disability) is welcome to attend.

We also have One-to-One Peer Support available. With this service you would meet regularly with a peer volunteer by telephone or video calls or in person at a location you and they feel comfortable with (such as a café). Our peer support volunteers are all carers or former carers themselves and will draw from their own experiences to help you work through your feelings and provide emotional and practical support. Volunteers are all trained in peer support skills through Health in Mind. We are always looking for volunteers for both our one-to-one peer support service and our Carers Group. For further information, please email rachael@edinburghcarerscouncil.co.uk or phone Rachael on 0131 322 8480.

 

On behalf of : VOCAL/THRIVE Edinburgh—Focus Group Participants Wanted!

Do you care for a person who uses mental health services in Edinburgh? Are you interested in helping us understand your experience as a carer of a person with a mental health condition? Would you like to help inform improved carer involvement in mental health services? If you answered yes to the questions above, we need your help to understand how you have been involved with mental health services in Edinburgh.

We are interested in understanding what impact your involvement has had on your life and the life of the person you care for. We want to know what you think would make that experience better in the future. What you tell us will help our work to support and encourage services to improve or develop meaningful carer involvement.

The information you share with us at the focus group will be kept confidential. Anything you tell us will not be attributed to you personally, and names and specific references to people and places will be changed. This research is not connected to services or benefit you are entitled to. The focus groups will be run by Fiona Barrett, Carer Engagement Officer at VOCAL, supported by trained experienced carer volunteers.

What will you gain from the experience? We hope that becoming a focus group participant on this project will be an interesting experience for you. Taking part will give you the opportunity to share your insights and experiences while giving you the chance to meet other carers. There will also be a small sweet “thank you” gift for taking part!

When and where? The focus groups will take place at VOCAL’s Edinburgh Carers Hub, 60 Leith Walk , EH6 5HB. Groups will take place on: 15 July from 13:30 - 16:00, 29 July from 10.00 – 12. 30, 10 August from 10.00 – 12. 30, 19 August from 10.00 – 12. 30. You can join the group on the date that best suits you, subject to a maximum of 8 participants. Refreshments will be provided and reasonable travel expenses will be reimbursed. To register your place, or find out more information please contact Fiona at involve@vocal.org.uk or telephone 0131 622 6666

 

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 unpaid carers.

 

Thank you for your support Stay safe & take care. Enjoy the Edinburgh Summer! Our next newsletter will be in the Winter 2021. Best wishes from all of us here at ECC