he Harrow Carers News Bulletin is produced every couple of months and contains all of the latest updates to help keep you informed about our work and upcoming activities.
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After 10 months of hard work, we are excited to celebrate that our Young Carers Team was awarded the London Youth Bronze Quality Mark! It is a nationally recognised quality mark that is accredited to organisations that deliver the highest standard of youth work across London.
What is the Bronze award for?
The Bronze Quality Mark is a quality assurance framework that provide youth organisations with a badge of excellence. The process is comprehensive and is based on a variety of criteria such as outcomes and aims for young people, safeguarding, diversity and inclusion, health and safety, partnerships, leadership and charity governance.
London Youth’s goal for organisations is for a journey of continually improving polices, procedures and programmes following best practice.
If services supported carers into work, this could generate £1 billion in taxes. Currently, the programme Working for Carers is supporting carers in London to move towards employment. At the end of June 2022, 1,157 carers and former carers had registered with the project. So far, 61% of those registered with the project have accessed training, 49% have been supported to job-search, 21% have moved into employment, and 14% have accessed volunteering opportunities. This programme included:
– One-to-one meetings with a dedicated Employment Personal Advisor
– Group activities and training workshops
– Help with job searching
– Support with CVs, job applications and interview techniques
However, Working for Carers will end in June 2023 and there is nothing replacing it so far. Consequently, there is a need for more programmes like Working for Carers to emerge and for employers to support carers into work. Through supporting carers to successfully combine work and caring duties, more carers can be encouraged to go into and stay in employment.
There are often small and inexpensive things employers can do to help ease carer employees’ concerns:
– Allowing carers to leave their mobile phones on in meetings in case of emergencies relating to the individual(s) they are caring for
– Giving caregivers time and access to a phone so they may check in on the person for whom they care while working.
Flexible working can be a good way to help carers juggle their employment with their caring role, flexible working policies can include:
– Flexible start and finish times
– Home working
– Staggered hours
– Flexible holidays
After working for their employer for 26 weeks or more, all employees have the legal right to request flexible working.
Creating a staff carer network, an internal network within your workplace that is set up to support the employees who are also carers, can provide carers with valuable peer support. This may involve:
– A virtual network on your internal network platform
– A group chat on an online communication platform such as teams
Importantly, employers can simply ask what carer employees need to feel supported in their role; engaging in an open discussion may improve understandings and enable long-term solutions to be developed.
Supporting carers in the workplace is beneficial both to the carer and the employer, employers can benefit from:
– Improved productivity – employees who have policies in place to support carers are more likely observe enhanced service delivery and increased productivity
– Reduced turnover – balancing care with work can be burdensome, if employees receive the correct support from employers, they are likely to commit to their job
By Tabitha Desmond
Working for Carers is a London-wide project that supports unpaid carers,aged 25 or over, to move closer to employment. The project is led by Carers Trust and delivered by its network of partners across London. Working for Carers is funded by the European Social Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund.
Returning to work after a long time might be overwhelming, and can often lead to feelings of anxiety and nervousness; it is normal.
The best way to deal with this, is to not push away these feelings, but deal with them by reminding yourself just how brilliant you are, and regaining confidence that you are able to fulfil the roles and responsibilities of your job.
Nervousness and anxiety can stem from many things, whether it is attending work for the first time (in a long time), leaving family members at home, or just being around new people. In order to become our best selves, we must be confident, calm and open to learn. There are also practical techniques here, which you can practice to manage feelings of anxiety, to find your calm, and to relax.
Self confidence isn’t something that comes naturally to some of us, and it often requires a lot of self care and self awareness. So, before you start you job, perhaps think about the following:
– Recognise what you’re good at. Remember they hired you for a reason, and remind yourself of your skillset and what you are capable of. What do you want to achieve? This focus will encourage motivation which will help being proactive at work.
– SELF – CARE. When do you feel most at home, where is your happy place? When you are lying in bed peacefully? During meditation? Exercise? Music? Find your home. Whatever it is that makes you feel at peace, do that.
– Be open to try new things, open to learn and open to build new working relationships.
– Instead of comparing yourself to others, think about what you can learn from them, and what they could learn from you.
– If there is an element of your job you’re worried about, read more about it, search it on YouTube and make a few notes.
– Take care of yourself. Get a good nights sleep and drink plenty of water.
More importantly, be present and enjoy and embrace everyday. Understand that you are still growing and learning, working on ourselves all the time so don’t be too hard on yourself if you make any mistakes. Mistakes are essential whilst developing in our careers!
If you want to read more on how to build yourself self confident at work, you can click here.
By Priya Tank
Working for Carers is a London-wide project that supports unpaid carers, aged 25 or over, to move closer to employment. The project is led by Carers Trust and delivered by its network of partners across London. Working for Carers is funded by the European Social Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund.
Working carers face stress and challenges both in the workplace and at home. There can be a lot to balance as with working comes significant responsibilities and pressures. For carers it is critical to address workplace stresses to reduce the burden they carry.
17.9 million working days are lost due to work-related stress, with 828,000 workers suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2019/20. With a tremendously difficult couple of years as a result of the pandemic, for carers it is now more essential than ever that they prioritise their happiness and reduce the strain of working.
It is important for carers as they care for others to also care for themselves. Here are some useful steps to help carers combat work related stress and reduce the burden working has when also caring for a vulnerable person.
Taking time to recharge
It is important to remember that taking time to recharge is productive too. Work can be draining and balancing that with being a carer can be a lot to cope with. You may feel prone to focus your time and efforts on others and your job but taking time for yourself can help protect your wellbeing and mental health.
Doing something to relax after work such as taking a warm bath, listening to music or baking a cake can be a great way to soothe your mind.
Practicing mindfulness can help you relax and manage stress. Mindfulness teaches people to manage their stress by paying attention to the present moment. Meditation in a span of six to nine months can reduce anxiety levels by 60% and so can help reduce the anxiety that can come with balancing being a carer and working.
Flexible Working
Flexible working could help you to balance your work and caring responsibilities. If you have been with your employers for 6 months then you have the right to request flexible working. This could provide more flexible working hours, job sharing or teleworking which may be more suitable to your needs.
Support network
Being able to confide in a friend, family member or colleague means a problem shared can be a problem solved. Letting them know when you’re stressed regarding work and responsibilities can be an effective way to get advice and support.
We at Harrow Carers can provide a devoted support network to help when caring and working becomes stressful, through advice and support we aim to reduce the burden and increase the quality of your life.
Let go of mistakes
Letting go of mistakes and not being too hard on yourself can help reduce the potential stresses of working. Nobody is perfect and people make mistakes in the workplace, it is valuable to acknowledge that you are doing your best. You need to resist the urge to be a perfectionist, if you’re working as well as caring for someone, it can be a lot to handle at once so remember to give yourself credit for that.
By Tabitha Desmond
Working for Carers is a London-wide project that supports unpaid carers, aged 25 or over, to move closer to employment. The project is led by Carers Trust and delivered by its network of partners across London. Working for Carers is funded by the European Social Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund.
Whether you are a new carer or have been caring for someone for a while, we believe that it’s important that you understand your rights and are able to access the support that is available to you as soon as you need it. Each year, Carers Rights Day helps us:
– ensure carers are aware of their rights
– let carers know where to get help and support
– raise awareness of the needs of carers.
The theme for Carers Rights Day 2020 is ‘Know Your Rights’
Carers need to know their rights wherever they are in their caring journey: whether they are in the workplace, in a healthcare setting, when interacting with professionals or at home. This Carers Rights Day, we want to empower carers with information and support, so they can feel confident asking for what they need. We also want carers to know how to challenge things when their rights are not being met.
