Workshops
Suffolk Family Carers provide a range of FREE online and face to face workshops. These are available to all of our registered family carers, aged eighteen or over (to register please complete our registration form). To see our upcoming workshops, please view our events calendar.
If you are unable to find availability for a workshop you would like to attend, feel there may be barriers or challenges that make it difficult for you to attend, or have suggestions for additional topics to help you in your caring role please contact us.
To keep up to date with all our workshops and be one of the first to hear about them please subscribe to our Workshops Newsletter.
Please note:
1. Our workshops are predominantly for adults caring for adults. If attending in your role as carer for a child or young person under 18, please be aware that you should either have sole parental responsibility for the child/young person or the approval of the person/organisation with or sharing parental responsibility (e.g. local authority/social services/co-parent) to attend. This applies to Foster Carers, Special Guardians and Connected Carers. We are happy to discuss the aims, objectives and content of our workshops to ensure their suitability.
2. Workshop availability is dependent on funding.
Caring with Confidence
Delivered as the three standalone workshops below.
Caring and Coping
Do you feel stressed in your caring role? You are not alone…
However dedicated we are to our caring role, being a family carer can sometimes be stressful. This workshop will explore how stress affects us and some tips for coping with it. Find out how eating chocolate (or your favourite edible treat) can help cope with stress!
Carers Rights and Carers Safety
Are you confused about where you stand with regard to your legal rights as an unpaid carer? Would you like to know more about your entitlements? Do you worry about your safety and wellbeing and that of the person you care for?
This information session aims to raise awareness of Carers Rights, give an overview of your entitlements. The session also aims to raise awareness of personal safety and wellbeing issues which may affect the way you look after yourself and the person you care for.
We offer both a self paced video version and a face to face version of this workshop.
NB: Neither of these versions provide financial or welfare rights advice to individuals.
Caring and Communicating
Are you in a caring role and would like to develop your communication techniques?
Have you ever tried to ask a doctor/other professional a question and ended up frustrated that you didn’t get an answer? Or tried to talk to the person you care for or others about a difficult subject and felt you could have handled it better? This workshop will help you tackle these issues and it will also help you develop techniques for planning how you ask for what you need and increase your chances of getting it.
Caring and Trauma
Have you or someone you care for experienced trauma?
The effects of trauma can make family caring feel like we’re riding a driverless bus blindfolded! This workshop aims to increase understanding of what trauma is and how it occurs, raise awareness of Post Traumatic Stress disorder and Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, understand how they impact those who experience them and signpost some possible coping strategies.
Wellbeing for Me
Are you in a caring role and experiencing difficulties with your emotional wellbeing?
This workshop will enable you to look at how your caring role can impact your own emotional wellbeing and how you can improve this.
Subjects include:
- The different roles we have in life
- Assertiveness
- Dealing with anxiety
- Overcoming challenges
- Mindfulness
Feeling Stronger to Care and Connect
Would you like to make new links to support you in your caring role?
Following the personal and societal effects and changes during the Covid-19 pandemic, this 4 session workshop has been devised to enable you to feel more confident in your caring role, improve your wellbeing, give you information about local services, inform you of your rights as family carers and provide peer support from other group members.
Caring and Resilience
Would you like to improve your ‘bounce-ability’ in your caring role?
Juggling the complex challenges that accompany a family caring role can make it hard to recover your own wellbeing after a relapse or set-back, especially if you are a family carer supporting someone with mental health or exhibiting challenging behaviour. People with strong resilience can pick themselves up after a set-back, brush themselves down and move forward positively. They ‘bounce-back’. If you’d like to learn how you can improve your ‘bounce-ability’ in your caring role – this workshop is for you.
Caring and Boundaries
Would you like to explore the nature of healthy boundaries within your caring relationship?
Caring relationships can become very complicated, especially when the person being cared-for is experiencing mental health or exhibiting challenging behaviour. It can be hard to keep track of where responsibilities begin and end, lives and identities can become entangled and any sense of personal identity, space and resources can be lost. If you’d like to explore ways to find some clarity about your own parameters, this workshop may be of help.
Armed Forces Family Carers Connected
This 4 session workshop is for people connected with the UK Armed Forces who have an unpaid caring role. The sessions aim to help you feel more confident in your caring role, improve your wellbeing, give you information about local services, inform you of your rights as family carers and provide connection with and peer support from other group members.
Subjects include:
- Explore the impact of stress on you in your caring role, identify and choose strategies to build resilience.
- Explore self-help and resources to improve your physical and mental health
- Increase awareness of Family Carer rights, sources of support and resources
- Explore ways to connect with communities, resources and support
What's Next For Me?
Is your Family Caring role changing? Would you like to explore and prepare for starting or returning to paid employment?
If so and you are over 18, this 4 session workshop aims to help you:
- Identify strengths and skills, acquired in your caring role, transferrable to and valued by learning volunteering and employment sectors
- Develop learning, volunteering or employment readiness skills like cv writing, job search and interview skills
- Consider Health and Social care as an accessible sector and one that will value their experience, skills and knowledge.
- Meet volunteering opportunity and training providers and potential employers
- Identify and plan for potential barriers and understand key relevant ‘carers in employment’ legislation
- Explore personal next steps and plan appropriate action
Carers Coffee Breaks
Are you in a caring role and would like to connect with other family carers?
These informal one-off sessions will provide a safe space to share experiences together and gain support. There will be different themes such as sharing interests and tips for wellbeing.
Caring for Children, Young People and Adults on the Autism Spectrum
Caring for Children and Young People on the Autism Spectrum – Wellbeing for Family Carers
Are you a parent/carer of a child/young person on the Autism Spectrum?
This workshop runs within school hours and is for parents/carers of children and young people (up to the age of 18) on the Autism spectrum. It reflects on the way in which you care, exploring ways to support neuro-diverse children, whilst maintaining your own wellbeing.
Unfortunately, it is currently not available to parents/carers in Waveney.
Subjects include:
- Condition traits
- Sensory issues
- Communication
- Limit setting
- Anxiety & how to manage if for yourself as a family carer & for the person you care for
- Self-care
Caring for Adults on the Autism Spectrum – Wellbeing for Family Carers
Are you a carer of an adult on the Autism spectrum?
This workshop is for carers of adults (aged 18 and over) on the Autism spectrum. It reflects on the way in which you care, exploring ways to support neuro-diverse adults, whilst maintaining your own wellbeing.
Unfortunately, it is currently not available to parents/carers in Waveney.
Subjects include:
- Condition traits
- Sensory issues
- Communication
- Anxiety and how to manage it for yourself as a family carer and for the person you care for
- Assertiveness
- Self care
- Increasing wellbeing
Who's in Charge?
Do you care for a child who is violent and defiant? Would you like to re-gain control in your home?
This 8 week workshop, which is run 2 sessions a week online and 1 session a week face to face, is for parents/carers of young people (up to the age of 18) who experience child to parent/carer violence and/or abuse. Participants must have parental responsibility or the approval of the person/organisation with parental responsibility (e.g. local authority/social services) to attend.
For family carers caring for a young person under 18 years.
- Reducing isolation
- Challenging feelings of guilt
- Reinforcing belief in the possibility of change
- Clarifying boundaries
- Examining strategies for creating meaningful and practical consequences for unacceptable behaviour
- Parent/carer self care
Subscribe to our workshop mailing lists
We provide regular updates on our upcoming workshops. If you would like to be included in these please subscribe.
As we offer a number of specialist workshops covering Who’s In Charge, Autism/ADHD, Substance Misuse, Mental Health and Wellbeing you can also choose to receive information on these.
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