About Us

What is Working for Carers?

Working for Carers supported 1,266 unpaid carers and former carers, across all 33 London boroughs, to move into or closer to employment. The project was funded by the European Social Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund between October 2016 and June 2023, as part of the Building Better Opportunities programme. Working for Carers was delivered by Carers Trust in partnership with four Network Partners (local carer organisations): Camden Carers Service; Carers Lewisham; Harrow Carers; and Redbridge Carers Support Service.

What we have achieved

Carers accessed free support, tailored to meet their individual needs. This included: help with job-searching, applications & CVs, and interview techniques; wellbeing support; IT skills; and access to training and volunteering opportunities.

Over 82% were economically inactive (not in employment or actively job-searching) when they registered with the project, and most had been out of work for many years. The project focussed on building confidence and skills, as well as supporting carers to address barriers to employment. By the end of the project:

50% had started actively job-searching, with 17% exiting the project to job-search independently
59% undertook training whilst supported by the project, and 14% accessed volunteering opportunities; 13% exited the project into training or education
22% were supported to move into employment
72% said they had sustained employment for 26 out of 32 weeks after exiting the project.

Participants who moved into employment, job-searching and/or training completed a satisfaction survey: 86% reported that their confidence had improved; and 82% said their skills had improved.

Evaluation 2019-2022:

Key findings from the evaluation of the project by Wavehill Social and Economic Research:

Working for Carers is by design carer friendly and is therefore likely to appeal to carers seeking to move back into employment. The majority of participants have a current caring role when they register.
The biggest barrier to moving into employment for carers is finding work or education/training that fits around the caring role; this is followed by low confidence and skills that are not up-to-date.
82% are economically inactive (not in employment or actively job-searching) when they register with the project, which is significantly higher than all projects funded by Building Better Opportunities (47%).
Participants who are economically inactive are more likely to require pre-employability support: space to consider their needs and barriers to employment, and make an informed decision about next steps.
A holistic approach to supporting carers to move into and sustain employment is important, which considers support needed at different stages:
- Pre-employability: encouraging carers to transition into actively seeking work
- Employability: supporting carers to progress into work
- Employment: supporting working carers and encouraging employers to adopt carer friendly policies.
The most effective mechanism for promoting the project and generating referrals is through the development and management of strong local referral networks.

The first phase of the project (2016-2019) was evaluated by Ecorys. The full report and executive summary are available to download.

Why we did it

Unpaid carers are often invisible while they make an incredible contribution to their family, friends and the society. Most of their lives are based around the person they look after, and our aim was to look after them. Our mission was to help carers see the value in themselves, increase their motivation and energy and take back the control of their life.

What we did

Supported carers to pursue their employment goals through confidence building and skills development.
Offer a flexible service that considers individual needs and ambitions.
Engaged with local businesses and organisations to create employment, training and volunteering opportunities for carers.
Highlighted the benefits of employing carers, adopting carer friendly policies, and understanding the needs of carers in the workplace.