Tag Archives: 2016

Carers in the media, Centre News, Events, Fundraising

BathHalf 2016

Our staff cheering on runners at the BathHalf on Sunday
Our staff cheering on runners at the BathHalf on Sunday

Last Sunday, the BathHalf celebrated its 35th year, with an astounding 13,000 people running to raise money for good causes or beat their personal best. The runners had perfect weather for Bath’s biggest annual event; the 13.1 mile course around the beautiful streets of this gorgeous city.

Last year the Half raised over £2.1million for charity, and this year we were honoured to be one of the organisations people could raise money for. This year, nine locations around the track were chosen to be ‘Battle of the Bands’ bases, and we were lucky enough to be chosen to host the ‘Edsel Furys’, a 60s garage and surf-style rock ‘n’ roll band whose infectious sound had runners smiling as they went past.

Our Deputy CEO and former BathHalf runner David said that when he ran, the Lower Bristol Road was a quiet and almost dispiriting part of the track. Thankfully we were able to change that this year, and with the ‘Edsel Furys’ in tow, we made sure the Carers’ Centre was a hub of noise and positivity for every runner involved! With signs, sweets and Carers’ Centre t-shirts, we made as much noise as we could for all the runners as they went past. We’re so grateful to every runner who took part – you are all so incredible and we thank you so much for your amazing dedication!

We want to say a special thank you to Taryn, Emma, Phil, Chris, Dan, Rich, Pete, and Norman, who ran to raise money for our centre. You’re all brilliant and we can’t wait to find out how much money you raised for carers in BANES!

The date for 2017’s BathHalf has already been set as the 12th of March – if you’ve been inspired by this year’s runners and want to take part next year, why not run and raise money for the Carers’ Centre? We’d love to see you there! Contact us on info@banescarerscentre.org.uk / 01761 431388 or @carerscentre1 to join our 2017 team.

Carer Stories

Our Support Group Project

Abstract green waveFeedback from our carers is essential for all the work we do here at the Carers Centre. If we didn’t speak to carers about what they like and don’t like about our services, we wouldn’t know the best way of shaping and creating services in the future. From phone calls with carers to giving out feedback forms during breaks, we listen to carers in everything we do.

A key way we get feedback about our services from carers is through our Annual Survey, which asks carers about their engagement with our service and if there’s anything they would change. Last year some carers wanted more regular contact with us, to gain a personal service. To address this, we’re reinstating our befriending service, which comes into force this month.

This shows our determination to include carer views in everything we do, and use their feedback to create better services for the future.

Our new project is no different.

At the Carers Centre, we currently have five support groups on offer, but we’re looking to expand this to help even more carers. We’re holding interviews in March to discuss what support groups carers want and how they should be organised. In the meantime, we’ve made an online questionnaire asking our carers for their views on support groups which can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/GLP9WH7. If you’re a carer with something to say then I need your help!

If you’re a carer and would like more information or want to get involved in the project, please contact BANES Carers Centre on 01761 431388 or email holly.turrell@banescarerscentre.org.uk. 

Carer Stories, Carers in the media, Young Carers

National Young Carers Awareness Day – 28th Jan

Joe in our Carers Centre garden
Joe in our Carers Centre garden

Tomorrow is National Young Carers Awareness Day, a national event aiming to inform the UK of who young carers are and the hidden struggles they face every day. Therefore today, we want to highlight one of our brilliant young carers, who we named our Young Carer of the Year 2015.

Seventeen-year-old Joe Lomax is the main carer for his mum, who suffers with chronic back pain. Joe manages to provide this care while attending college and looking for part time work. This isn’t all: he is becoming increasingly involved in our Young Carers service, acting as a fantastic role model for other young people. Joe’s friendliness, warmth and compassion means he always welcomes new Young Carers with a smile.

During the Young Carers ‘Big Day Out’ trip in August, Joe provided hands on help for the YC team, assisting the youngest boys to build rafts and row boats, while also organising the children effectively. At our bike workshop later that summer, Joe spoke to various trustees about the work he was doing to the bikes, providing an informative and funny description of the day’s events. They were really impressed, which helped their decision to fund more Young Carers activities in the New Year.

Joe is one of our most popular Young Carers and a true example of how amazing these young people are. It was an honour to award him our Young Carer of the Year 2015 and we can’t wait to see him again this year!

Young Carers Awareness Day is on Thursday 28th January – please get involved or donate to support Young Carers like Joe. You can find more information from The Carers Trust here: https://www.carers.org/young-carers-awareness-day

Centre News, Fundraising, Young Carers

Happy New Year from the Carers Centre!!

Happy-New-Year-2016-Download-Images-22It seems remarkable that 2016 is already upon us and before jumping straight into new activities we wanted to quickly look back at the highlights of the past year.

2015 was an amazing year for the Carers Centre. We held two successful craft fayres which showcased amazing local talent and raised money as well as awareness for carers in BANES. In terms of fundraising we had some brilliant events, like our amazing skydive which raised over £1000 for the centre! Alongside this we held loads of summer breaks for our young carers. We went to Longleat, a water park, horse riding, and even tobogganing!

In the autumn we held our first charity concert with the Mendip Male Voice Choir and Sing Your Heart Out, as well as our annual ‘Celebrating Carers’ ceremony. These were truly uplifting events that inspired everyone who attended. Excitingly, in November we completed the purchase of our Woodlands office, allowing us to provide a permanent place for carers. Then, to finish off the year, we were one of the chosen charities for the Saltford Santa Dash – what could be better than hundreds of Santas running to raise cash for the CC?!

2016 is set to be just as amazing, with a huge range of activities, breaks and events planned for this year.  We already have a whole host of activities underway at both centres, from art classes to information workshops. In the spring we have a focus group project taking place, as well as more Carers Voice meetings. We’re even planning a sponsored walk for Carers Week in June so watch this space! We will also be holding more craft fayres, loads of activities for young carers in the summer and ‘Celebrating Carers’ in the Autumn so we can reward even more carers for their unseen, amazing work.

We want to wish every carer a happy new year and we look forward to seeing you all in 2016!