At Suffolk Family Carers, we know how important unpaid family carers are to their families and communities, but they are also a huge part of the social care system. Across the UK the value of family carers’ support is estimated to be a staggering £162 billion per year, which equates to another NHS! Most of these unpaid family carers are unrecognised, and being unrecognised means they are not getting the support they are entitled too and the government aren’t doing enough to help them.
Suffolk’s 65,000 unpaid family carers NEED politicians of ALL parties to recognise and support them in ways that benefit their lives, improve their health, prevent poverty and ensure those who want to can remain in employment. With the general election just next week our Board of Trustees and management team have put together a manifesto asking all candidates for Suffolk constituencies to prioritise family carers.
In line with the Carers Trust and Carers UK manifestos, we have highlighted the importance of proper support for family carers, including financial support, funding for social care and particular care for Young Carers.
Kirsten Alderson, CEO, explains, “Raising awareness and campaigning for unpaid family carers is hugely important especially with the upcoming election. We want to raise awareness of carers’ issues at this point in the run up to the election, and will be seeking to work with the successful candidates who become MPs in our local constituencies, to improve the support available for family carers of all ages. We need all our politicians to recognise the important contributions of family carers to the health and social care system, and work with us to ensure they are visible, valued, supported and connected.”
Our full manifesto is available to read now and it will be sent out to all Suffolk Constituency MPs after the general election on the 4th July.
