Carers Trust President, HRH The Princess Royal, met unpaid carers from West Wales at the Short Breaks Conference on Thursday 3 October.

Carers Trust Crossroads West Wales, along with other caring organisations and unpaid carers, attended the conference at the Glamorgan County Cricket Club in Cardiff, organised by Carers Trust Wales. The conference highlighted the impact of the Short Breaks Scheme, which provides an opportunity for unpaid carers to have a short break away from their caring role.

Kate Cubbage, Director Carers Trust Wales, says, “Unpaid carers play a vital role supporting family members, friends and neighbours. Our fragile health and social care system is reliant on the often selfless contribution of carers. I am delighted that our President, HRH The Princess Royal, met and spoke with many of the organisations delivering the Short Breaks Scheme, a scheme that is essential to sustaining carers in the crucial role they play in communities across Wales. Carers who have benefited from a short break also had the opportunity to meet with Her Royal Highness to share the difference taking a short break had made to them and those they care for.”

Kate continues, “There are over 310,000 unpaid carers in Wales. Their commitment is often unseen and undervalued. We welcomed the opportunity for HRH The Princess Royal to hear how the Short Breaks Scheme has made a bold start in helping to transform their lives.”

Minister for Children and Social Care, Dawn Bowden said: “It was an honour to speak at the Carers Trust Short Breaks conference and hear from unpaid carers who have benefitted from our Short Breaks scheme. We highly value the vital role that unpaid carers play in our communities. Our £9m investment reflects our commitment to have additional opportunities for unpaid carers across Wales to take a break from their caring roles to maintain their physical and mental wellbeing.”

The Short Breaks Scheme is funded by Welsh Government and coordinated by Carers Trust Wales. It aims to supports 30,000 unpaid carers of all ages in Wales to take a break from their caring role, through overnight breaks, group activities and small grants by 2025. Carers Trust Crossroads West Wales is one of 27 caring organisations helping to deliver the scheme in 2024/25.

Carers Trust Wales launched a website (www.shortbreaksscheme.wales) this year to help unpaid carers find a break in their area.

Working together to support Carers – Co production in action in Carmarthenshire County Council by Emma Taylor-Hill

A ‘Working Together to Support Carers conference’ was held recently in Carmarthenshire. The Head of Adult Social Care said Supporting Carers is a priority in Carmarthenshire and the local authority wants to ensure a co production approach is used to inform this work.

The audience was made up from practitioners and carers. This included representatives from statutory and third sector services. The agenda included a series of presentations in the morning including:

Welcome and introduction to the day by Avril Bracey (Head of Adult Social Care, Carmarthenshire County Council) and Nick Andrews from Developing Evidence Enriched Practice (DEEP)
A video message from Luke Clements on the legislative and policy context
Information about the experiences of carers from Claire Morgan (Director of Carers Wales)
Reflection from a social worker about his work with a carer

In the afternoon, guests were able to join tables for discussions on different topics. This included:

Early support
Information/advice and assistance
Carers assessments
Respite/short breaks/direct payments.
Impact of the cost-of-living crisis on carers

Discussions were captured and will be collated to inform strategies in Carmarthenshire including the developing prevention strategy. This was a wonderful example of co-production and the day enabled qualitative information to be gathered, so that the voices of carers could be included in planning for support provision.

One theme that kept emerging throughout the day was the importance of relationship-based practice and how this can support a better understanding of those with caring responsibilities and their needs. It was evident that there is complexity within families with multiple carers and in some cases, this was not always being recognized and supported. It was suggested that there needs to be more of a proactive approach in identifying those with caring responsibilities who may benefit from assessment.

There was a great deal of discussion about the need for short breaks to be bespoke and in line with what matters for both the carer and the person with care and support needs. There were also suggestions for direct payments to be used flexibly and creatively to ensure a person-centred approach.

Feedback from carers was positive and there are plans to hold a similar event next year

If you would like to find out more about this topic, please have a look at the Welsh Government annual report for 2023 on the delivery plan for unpaid carers:

Unpaid carers delivery plan annual report 2023,