Local MP Maria Miller pledged her support to carers across Basingstoke as part of the national Carers Week 2015 awareness campaign, which runs from 8-14th June. Maria was delighted to meet representatives from a number of charities supporting carers at the Carers Week Parliamentary Reception.
There are 6.5 million unpaid carers in UK, of which 9,158 are in Basingstoke, providing unpaid care by looking after an ill, older or disabled family member or friend.
This year’s Carers’ Week theme is Building Carer Friendly Communities, where carers’ responsibilities are noticed and accounted for.
Maria said: “I think it’s incredibly important to recognise carers’ huge contribution to families and communities across the UK. Carers’ Week is an excellent campaign that raises awareness of caring, drawing attention to the enormous challenges that carers face.
I am supporting this initiative to encourage services in my community to think about the needs of carers and reach out to carers across Basingstoke to make sure they don’t miss out on support.”
Carers Week Manager Diana Walles said: “It’s fantastic to see MPs supporting carers. Families are increasingly taking on caring roles for older, ill or disabled loved ones, yet still struggle for recognition and support from health and care services and in their communities.
Much progress has been made – indeed, over 1,000 people and organisations have already pledged to actively engage with carers in their local community for Carers Week and into the future. But we still have a long way to go. This Carers Week, we’re calling on individuals and organisations to think about what they can do to improve the lives of carers in their community.”
For more information visit www.carersweek.org