more information on the 

Carers Home Page link to PAVS

or contact

Nicole van Schie,

New Carers Development Worker on 01437 771196.

E-mail : nicole.vanschie@pavs.org.uk

or visit the Carers Website: www.pavs.org.uk/carers

PAVS

36 - 40 High Street,

Haverfordwest

Pembrokeshire

SA61 2DA

The Carers Network (also known as the Carers Forum) provides an opportunity for carers to have a say, air their views, let their voices been heard about services and support for carers in Pembrokeshire. This network exists for carers, voluntary organisations -who provide services for carers - and the statutory organisations to meet one another, share information and receive updates on development of services in the County.

The network meets at Carers Days, Parent/Carers Days, Carers Rights Days and any other days organised by the members of the Carers Strategy Implementation Group.

The Carers Development Worker, Nicole van Schie, at PAVS (Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services) takes the lead in planning, preparing and organising the days for carers, where a varied programme is offered to the network of carers. Nicole was the Young Carers Development Worker at PAVS, previous to the role as Carers Development Worker. Nicole has been self-employed as Independent Manager Advocate for several years and worked in a Camphill Community in Carmarthenshire with young people with Learning Disabilities and Mental Health problems. Before that she managed her own accountancy business in the Netherlands.

New Pembrokeshire Networking website launched.

The new website will provide information for a range

of Networks including dates of future meetings, past minutes or reports and newsletters. Visit the site here

Carers Handbook - Do you look after Someone at Home

A carers handbook for all Carers in Pembrokeshire was produce in 2002. It is intended to be a valuable resource of information, and is a book for carers developed by carers, Pembrokeshire County Council and the county`s development worker. So far 500 copies have been issued to Carers, the voluntary sector and Agencies. Updates will be produced shortly and forewarded to everyone who has a copy. If you are a carer or know someone who is, copies are available free of charge, you just need to phone:

the Contact Centre at Pembrokeshire County Council on 01437 764551

Carers Handbook

For a copy of the revised Carers Handbook click here,

please phone the County Council contact centre 01437 764551.

Current Consultations and Policies

Shocking call to lump learning disability into mental health
A paper commissioned by Edwina Hart MBE AM, the Minister for Health and Social Services, has put forward a principle recommendation that a statutory body 'responsible for mental health and well being in Wales' is established. More worryingly it further recommends that the body would 'provide and lead services for people with learning disabilities'.
Click here to view article

: Many carers are setting up petitions
 to get the government to do more for carers.

Find out how you can back them, including a new campaign for student carers who are barred from claiming Carer's Allowance. more... 16.05.08

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Pay Carers Allowance to carers for each individual disabled child or adult cared for. More details

Submitted by Nathalie Bishop of Mother and carer – Deadline to sign up by: 24 January 2009 – Signatures: 167

New : As council tax bills are issued Carers UK 
is urging all carers to check out if they paying the right amount.
 Some carers are entitled to a discount. more... 







NATIONAL CARERS STRATEGY

  : A new report from Carers UK highlights how new technology

can radically improve life

for carers and disabled people - more... 06.02.08

  
   CARERS TELL PM "IT'S TIME TO DELIVER" 

Prime Minister Gordon Brown met carers at a Carers UK and Department of Health event in Leeds last week.

Carers told the PM they expect him to deliver better support: more...

We're offering free membership. Yes, free membership because we know that carers have many calls on their finances.

www.carersuk.org

Join today and you'll receive

• Our quarterly members' magazine, Caring, with the latest information on caring, carers' stories and how Carers UK is making a difference.
• Helpful free telephone advice on all aspects of caring from our CarersLine experts.
• Free information booklets written by experts covering a wide range of topics from carer benefits to practical help.
• An invitation to our Members' Conference and Annual General Meeting
• You'll also have a say in how Carers UK is run with a vote on electing our Trustees, the majority of whom are carers themselves and who ensure Carers UK is carer- led.

To take advantage of our free offer simply fill in our online form by clicking here.

    

            Scope are currently lobbying the UK Government to ratify the first disability specific human rights convention for disabled people: The UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. 

This convention will promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of human rights by all disabled people, not just prohibit discrimination. The UK Government has signed the UN Convention but has not yet ratified it. Until it does, the Convention is not legally binding on the UK.

Can I encourage you and as many people as you can to sign the petition and urge the UK Government to ratify the convention at: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ratifyconvention/

Thanks

Esther

Esther Barnett
Swyddog Ymgyrchoedd / Campaigns Officer
Scope Cymru

       
       

 
www.caretotakealook.com
This interactive website/CD ROM 
offers an introduction to the issue of caring using
 a variety of text,
'Care to take a look' includes : 

• An introduction to caring by broadcaster Nicky Horne (who is also a carer)
  
• Filmed examples of carers' life stories
• How a life is changed : an interactive tool to see how episodes of caring affect a persons life
• Regional statistics - search how many carers there are where you live
• Presentations on the big issues affecting carers : money, health and employment
• Facts about carers
• Care awareness - self-awareness tool for policy makers to test their knowledge

4 THINGS YOU PROBABLY NEVER KNEW YOUR MOBILE PHONE COULD DO

There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies.
Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for
survival. Check out the things that you can do with it:

FIRST                                    Emergency

The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find yourself
out of the coverage area of your mobile; network and there is an
emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to
establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly this number
112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.

SECOND                         Have you locked your keys in the car?

Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy
someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If you lock your keys in the
car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their
mobile phone from your cell phone.

Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the
person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile
phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to
drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds
of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other "remote"
for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk).
Editor's Note: It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car
over a mobile phone!"

THIRD                             Hidden Battery Power

Imagine your mobile battery is very low. To activate, press the keys
*3370# Your mobile will restart with this reserve and the instrument
will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when
you charge your mobile next time.

FOURTH                     How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone?

To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following
digits on your phon! e: * # 0 6 #

A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to
your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. When your phone
get stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this
code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief
changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably
won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it
can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no
point in people stealing mobile phones.

pass
it on to your family and friends.

Case study: Self-directed care
An example of self-directed care in action is Joseph
Tomlinson (18) who has complex disability needs.
Joseph's mum Caroline says: “If he’d followed the usual
social care route, he’d probably be in residential care
right now – out of sight, out of mind.” Instead Joseph’s
life is now remarkable for its ordinariness. He has set up
his own social enterprise, studies at college and is now
buying his own home.
The difference in his life is thanks to support from In
Control, a partnership with individuals, families, local
authorities, community organisations and support
providers. They are developing this new system of social
care – Self-Directed Support – so that people such as
Joseph, can take control of their support money and
spend it in a way that makes sense to them without
unnecessary restrictions. Through In Control Joseph was
assessed and allocated a pot of money from social
services and other funding streams. This enabled the
family to employ eight personal assistants working on a
rota basis.
In Control is sponsored by the Department of Health,
Mencap, The Care Services Improvement Partnership
and the Valuing People Support Team. Some 95 local
authorities are already signed-up members and are
implementing the new system.
Caroline Tomlinson concludes: “After all I never wanted to
be his care manager, his accountant or his director of
services. All I ever wanted to be is Joseph’s mum, doing
things that mums do for their growing children – like the
washing! In Control has helped a lot in achieving this.”
For further information on In Control visit
www.in-control.org.uk

CARERS LOSE £11,000 A YEAR IN EARNINGS

New statistics, published to coincide with Carers UK's Carers Rights Day, show that the average loss in earnings last year by carers who had either to give up their job, reduce their hours or take a more junior position was £11,050. more...

Carers ask Gordon Brown for real change

07 November 2007

Ahead of first Carers Summit, carers deliver thousands of letters to Downing Street demanding reform of carers’ benefits.

A group of carers representing the UK’s six million carers deliver letters to Gordon Brown today (7 November 2007) calling for a fresh look at carers’ benefits and the financial support they receive.

The visit to No.10 Downing Street comes one day ahead of the first Carers Summit due to be held in London on Thursday 8 November.

The letters are part of Carers UK’s Real Change not Short Change campaign which is aiming to overhaul the benefits systems to give carers a decent standard of living and to enable them to work if they wish.

Imelda Redmond, Chief Executive of Carers UK says, “We’ve had a staggering response to our campaign and a wide range of messages showing the strength of carers’ feelings.  The support that carers provide is worth £87 billion each year, yet in return the Carer’s Allowance is just £48 a week.  Carers see this as an insult and want the system changed.”

Research by Carers UK shows that nearly three quarters of carers are worse off as a result of caring.   A third struggle to pay bills and one in five has cut back on food.

Gordon Brown has made carers a priority by setting up a Standing Commission on carers, and launching the largest ever consultation for carers with a review of the National Strategy for Carers, which he has pledged will become a vision for the next ten years.

The Carers Summit, organised by Carers UK, will see some 250 carers from throughout the UK debate the crucial issues facing carers in the 21st century, including the lack of recognition they face, the low incomes they are forced to survive on and the need for health and social care services to better support carers.  Ivan Lewis MP, Minister for Care Services and Anne McGuire MP, Minister for Carers’ Benefits, will be attending to hear carers’ views which they will feed in to the National Carers Strategy.

Kate Groucutt  email: kate.groucutt@carersuk.org.        

or Patricia Orr. T. 020 7592 1980 M. 07889 140139

email: pat@thirdsectorpr.co.uk

3.   Carers UK is the leading campaigning, policy and information organisation of and for carers. Carers UK continues to make a difference to carers' lives by: campaigning for a better deal for carers; informing carers of their rights and what help is available; training and advising professionals who work with carers; working across the UK through its membership and networks of branches and affiliates. For more information, visit www.carersuk.org or for advice on your caring situation call CarersLine on T. 0808 808 7777.

National Strategy for Carers 2008

Earlier this year Gordon Brown announced that the Government would review the National Carers Strategy and publish a new version next year, outlining a framework for carers' services over the next decade.  He said it would involve "the biggest ever consultation with carers."

Carers' Voices report

Carers UK has spent the year asking carers what they would like to see in the new Strategy and has published a report, reflecting those views -Carers Voices: Shaping the National Strategy - more...

We are continuing to campaign to make sure the Strategy addresses the most important issues for carers - such as income and employment, and receives proper funding. 

Tell us what you think...

If you've got something to say about the National Strategy and/or  want to highlight a particular issue to the Government, you can still let us know: email equalpartners@carersuk.org

Read more about the background to the new Strategy, including what Carers UK has been doing - more....

The Department of Health produces updates on the New Deal for Carers and the National Strategy - more...

High Support Needs Group

Launch New Carers Step2Health Project

duringCarers Week 2007

Parent Carers Healthy Steps

This new project aimes to imrove the heatlh and
 wellbeing of Carers by providing planned walks 

tailored to Carers needs
find out more about steps2health at
www.healthchallengepembrokeshire.co.uk

Full story and Link to new page on
 web-site about the project
 Steps2Health

My life as a carer  was the theme for Carer's week 2007.

Financial  - including financial planning for carer's, publishing carer's allowance, direct payments, 
other benefits, where to get advice etc.

Career - flexible working hours, job propects, earnings, pension entitlements,
 promotion propects, getting back into the job market.

Social life / relationships - caring being a life - changing experiance, limitations as a result of 24/7: 
time, energy, lack of focus on self.

Health - look after yourself, health checks for carer's.

This year   2 separate Carer's Day's were held in Pembrokeshire
one for Parents of Children/Young People (0 - 25) with Disabilities,
one was held on the 
6th of June at Haverfordwest Cricket Club

and one for all carers was held on the 
June 14th at Haverfordwest Rugby Club
Both days  provided an opportunity to hear various speakers and a chance to get involved
 in some discussions about varoius caring roles.
A delicious lunch was provided on both days followed by some therapy taster sessions,
 which gave everyone a chance to relax and unwind away from thier caring roles.


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