Happy New Year! I hope you had sufficient excitement, or rest (whichever you were hoping for) over the festive period.
Whilst the winter holidays are a time of celebration for many, they can be stressful for some, especially families that thrive better with routine and calmness. I personally find New Year’s Day to be one of my favourite holiday days. It has all the promise of a good year ahead and the catharsis of closing the chapter on any difficult times that the previous year may have contained.
In the dark days of early January it is sometimes hard to feel optimistic. We have had a particularly unsettling few months with the cost of living crisis, adding to worries of the pandemic. However, I think it is important to balance this with reflections on the more positive things that are ahead. I always start the year with a list of personal resolutions, and sometimes I manage to achieve one or two!
It is the process of thinking about improvements, or planning things to look forward to that is equally as important as achieving the goal. Having a really good think about how you change things in your life for the better is really important for good wellbeing.
Last year, we asked family carers to help us understand how could change things for the better at Suffolk Family Carers. Over the summer we talked to 40 family carers at co-production events and consulted a further 73 online,. Their thoughtful responses have helped us refresh our strategy, and we are now aware that family carers want us to add 4 additional priorities to our existing plans:
- Help family carers access respite
- Provide more emotional and peer support
- Raise awareness of family carer issues
- Amplify the voices of family carers
Our strategy refresh will be published soon, alongside our action plan for delivery. And I can assure you that these resolutions will be achieved!
Talking of achieving things, one of our aspirations forward is to encourage more people to volunteer with Suffolk Family Carers. We have 65 superb volunteers that help with all sorts of roles, from our telephone befriending services (Talk and Support) to our Reception staff who welcome visitors to our Claydon offices. In 2023 we will be developing more interesting volunteer roles, so if you have made a resolution this year, to do something different, please consider volunteering with us. We would love to see you.
With every best wish for 2023.
Kirsten
