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This report to our members covers activity carried out by Carers UK from 2006 - 2007
Thank you for your continued support of Carers UK. Our achievements show that our campaigning leads to real changes which improve carers' lives. The pace of change is without doubt frustratingly slow at times and no one is under any illusions about the task ahead when carers continue to live in poverty, suffer ill health and are forced out of employment. But our commitment to you, our members, is that we will not stop campaigning until carers get the recognition and support they deserve
Don Brereton, Chair
This has been a year of significant milestones in the history of Carers UK. We have secured new rights for carers. We have increased the number of our supporters. We have significantly increased the public understanding of the issues carers face. We have moved carers up the political agenda in the UK and have had particular successes in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Here are five things Carers UK has delivered during the year.
1. Make Work Work: 2.6 million carers will benefit from the right to request flexible working
One in five carers give up work to care. This can lead to financial hardship, poorer career prospects, social isolation and poor pension provision.
During 2006/07 Carers UK launched the Make Work Work campaign to give carers real choices about balancing work and care. In April 2006 the campaign won its first major success: new rights for carers to request flexible working. Lobbying by Carers UK persuaded the Government to widen the number of carers who will benefit to around 2.6 million people.
2. Back Me Up: £25 million to support emergency respite care
We launched our Back Me Up campaign because carers told us they felt trapped and isolated in their own homes, unable to travel far for fear of what might happen if an emergency occurred. Thanks to the campaign the Government has announced £25 million for carer emergency respite in England and the Welsh Assembly have committed an extra £1 million.
3. Carer pensions: Improved pension rights for carers
Many carers go into old age in poverty. During the course of the year we have contributed evidence to the national debate on the reform of pensions. In July 2007 new pension rights for carers recognise for the first time an important principle - that caring is as important as paid work when deciding pension contributions. An estimated 160,000 carers will benefit from this achievement.
4. Carers Rights Day: Increase take up of benefits and reach hidden carers
Hundreds of events across the country helped raise the profile of carers in the public eye and helped carers to seek advice, information and support. Carers Rights Day in December 2006 resulted in an estimated 27,000 people receiving our advice on issues such as benefits, pensions and allowances.
5. Advice and information: One to one support for carers in need of help
Many carers do not know what benefits they can claim. Carers UK continues to deliver a high quality advice and information service to the public. Our offices dealt with around 23,000 enquiries. Our free advice line CarersLine dealt with over 13,000 queries from carers. The number of calls we were able to answer on the helpline increased by 22%.
We helped Mr Bergman claim back £6,000 in Council Tax discount which his council had wrongly stated he couldn't get. On average each carer who called CarersLine is £25 a week better off as a result of our expert advice.
The demand for the service continues to outstrip the resources available. After much lobbying from Carers UK the Government announced a further investment of £3 million per annum for a national helpline. Carers UK intends to tender for this contract.
This year has seen Carers UK laying important groundwork for battles ahead.
Here are five things we have in progress
1. Short changed: Campaigning to end carer poverty
Caring comes with a price. Many carers fall into poverty and suffer severe financial hardship as a direct result of caring. One in three people providing round the clock care struggle to pay basic food and utility bills, often affecting their own health and that of the person they care for.
In November 2006 we launched a high profile campaign - Real change not short change - on the impact of caring on people's finances. Over 3,000 carers gave us evidence which we turned into a hard-hitting research campaign which demands an overhaul of carer benefits.
2. Ten year plan: Influencing the National Strategy for Carers
In February 2007 Gordon Brown visited the home of Carers UK member Jill Pay and announced a new National Strategy for Carers. The strategy will set out a ten year plan for support to carers and is a golden opportunity to improve recognition for carers. Carers UK's contribution to the Strategy will be based on the priorities for change identified by you our members, in both the survey we carried out in January 2007 and the contributions made in person by carers attending our series of events during Spring 2007.
3. Social care: Leading the debate on improving social care
Carers tell us repeatedly about the impact of cuts to services or of services simply not being there at all. With an increasingly ageing population requiring more carers it is vital that there is proper investment in support for carers and the people they care for. We have joined forces with organisations like Help the Aged and the the Alzheimer's Society as part of the Caring Choices Coalition to force a public debate on proper funding for social care.
4. Carers on the political agenda
We gave carers the chance to shape the elections to the Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies and the Scottish Parliament. Carers Manifestos were developed based directly on consultations with carers. Together with their personal stories, carers used the manifestos to raise candidates' awareness of how caring impacts on people's lives and seek a commitment to improve support. We have been expanding our influence into Europe and this year we set up 'Euro Carers', a new partnership of carers' organisations that will influence the European Parliament.
5. Ending isolation: Finding ways to connect carers
Carers can feel cut off from their former lives and find it hard to take part in the things everyone else takes for granted - seeing family and friends, pursuing interests outside of their caring role. Carers UK's network of 70 branches run by volunteers and the 500 organsations who are associate members of Carers UK play a critical part in breaking down that isolation by organising local support groups, social events and breaks from caring. We have launched a new version of the Carers UK forum - our online community where carers can talk to each other and offer support through the Internet. Membership continues to grow and carers who are part of the community are making lasting friendships and tell us it is a lifeline.
Carers UK is made up of carers. You our members elect the Board of Trustees. A majority of trustees must be current carers and run the organisation on behalf of the members. Over the past year we have focused on increasing the number of carers we are in touch with. We have done this by growing membership and through new means such as email newsletters. We also seek to find new ways for those carers to engage with Carers UK - we continually seek to live up to our strapline - "the voice of carers". Each and every day Carers UK staff are listening to what carers need through phone calls, letters and emails, through comments on our website forum, and in person at meetings and events.
Your evidence is the fuel for change : Our research is based solidly on the experiences of carers. 5,000 carers responded to the Carers Week survey, 3,000 responded to the survey on carers' priorities for the new National Carers Strategy and 3,000 carers responded to our survey on the impact that caring had on their finances.
Having your say : This year we actively sought carers to write articles for the magazine, Caring. In 2006/07 use of website www.carersuk.org went up by 80% with over 200,000 unique visitors. The website provides many ways for carers to get involved such as taking part in surveys, contributing to our discussion forum or voting in online polls.
Equal Partners: In touch with carers on the frontline : Our Equal Partners Project which aims to assist carers in achieving real change at a local level, now has over 1,000 members. We have developed and run courses throughout the UK on how to influence policy change both at local and national level, helping carers improve their confidence and negotiating skills. We have published briefings on Human Rights, Employment Rights and Back Me Up.
95 pence out of every pound the charity spends goes directly to helping carers. The summarised accounts show the overall financial position of the charity. Our finances are on a stable footing.
Carers UK generated a deficit for the year of £79k and carried forward total reserves of £1,436k. The funds carried forward comprises restricted funds of 681k which are grants or donations given for a specific purpose and which cannot be used to support other areas of our work, and unrestricted funds of 755k which may be spent at the discretion of the Trustees within the objects of the charity.
Total income for the year was £4,314k of which 3,153k came as grants from Government, other public bodies and trusts. Our other main incomes streams are legacies, donations and gifts from trusts, businesses and individuals, training fees and membership subscriptions. Major funders during the year included the Department of Health (core funding), the European Social Fund, which supports that Action for Carers and Employment project, and the Big Lottery (Participation).
Our total expenditure for the year was £4,393k. Around 40% of that expenditure related to policy implementation, 31% to carers' involvement and 24% to campaigning and policy development. The remaining 5% covered fundraising and governance.
The full accounts can be downloaded here.
