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Carers Courier

Making a positive difference to carers’ lives across the City & County of Swansea

Dear Carer p1Mind, Body, Spirit p2Carers Rights Day p6The Counselling Room p7Volunteering p11

The Newsletter of Swansea Carers Centre Issue 2 - 2017

In this issue...

w t Swansea Carers Centre 104 Mansel Street, Swansea, SA1 5UE

01792 653344 www.swanseacarerscentre.org.uk Office Opening Times: Monday to Friday 11am-4pm (lines open 9am- 4.30pm) Answer phone service available out of hours Personal Callers (11am-4pm) Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SwanseaCarers

To join our FREE email list to receive The Courier & other information via email please contact:[email protected]

CHARITY NO: 1108865 COMPANY NO: 5352055

Is there someone who cannot manage without your help? If so, then you are a Carer and you’re not alone.Swansea Carers Centre aims to give much needed support and information to carers across Swansea by providing welfare benefit advice, access to grants and special funds, a counselling service, advocacy services, respite care, volunteering opportunties, carers’ mutual support groups, training, consultation opportunities and social occasions. All our services are confidential.

Swansea Carers Centre is a specialist voluntary organisation providing support to carers across the City & County of Swansea. We support all carers of those with an illness or disability including learning disability, mental health problems, addiction, physical disability, dementia and other long term limiting illnesses.

Our Vision is to live in a society where:

• The role and contribution that carers make to their families and to

society is recognised.

• Carers have access to appropriate support to sustain them in their caring role.

• Carers are respected as equal and expert partners in the planning and delivery of care.

Our Missionis to make a positive

difference to the lives of carers

We will do this by working in partnership with statutory and voluntary organisations and by acting independently in the interest of carers throughout the City & County of Swansea.

The CourierThe Courier is circulated to over 3,500 carers across the City & County of Swansea. If you would like to receive this newsletter then please contact us. Alternatively if you no longer wish to receive The Courier then please let us know.

This newsletter is produced by Swansea Carers Centre. Whilst Swansea Carers Centre has taken all reasonable steps to ensure that the information is correct at the time of publication responsibility cannot be accepted by Swansea Carers Centre for errors,

For latest news visit www.swanseacarerscentre.org.

Cover photo: Christmas decorations created by carers in the pottery workshop

Dear CarerThe last two years has seen lots of changes at the Swansea Carers Centre, and as you all know, change can often be unsettling.I started in the role of Director of the Carers Centre on October 23rd and have enjoyed immensely getting to know some of you, both carers and professionals who work with the Centre. I hope that I can get to meet many more of you over the next few months and please feel free to come and introduce yourselves. You are the ones using and needing the services of the Centre and its essential that I meet with you regularly to hear your views and thoughts.Since I’ve started in the post I have seen at first-hand the good work that goes on and how passionate the staff are to provide a good service and offer support when things get difficult for carers. I’ve been lucky to be involved and observed several activities and events which have demonstrated how our staff work to ensure carers are recognised and their rights promoted.Our most recent annual report highlights some of the key achievements during 2016-2017• Number of contacts with the Carers Centre – 5481• Number of new carers: 1111• 1520 appointments made to support maximising benefit entitlement with £435,6949.70 worth of benefits obtained for carers• Ty Conway our day centre provided 9585 hours of care• Home Support provided 5633 hours of respite• Volunteers contributed 6544 hours which would equate to over £66,000.• Our counsellor provided over 500 hours counselling appointments • 75% of those who attended in-house courses said they felt lower levels of stress• 80% of those who attended in-house courses felt their self-esteem and confidence had improved. There is without doubt a lot of good work going on at the Centre and I am excited about joining the team. However the future won’t be without its challenges- none more so than the re-funding threat to some of the posts at the centre. Like many other organisations in the health and social welfare field, we are facing funding cuts or end of project funding and we are currently looking at the possibility that a number of our current workers won’t be re-funded after the end of March next year. This is obviously a real concern for us, but we are working with funders and partners to try and ensure that we are able to continue delivering the services affected. If you feel that engaging with your local councillor or assembly member could be helpful, then we would of course welcome your support. We have a skilled and experienced team at the Centre and we cannot afford to lose such valuable resources for carers in Swansea. The Carers Centre has over 11 years’ experience of highlighting and promoting carers rights and ensuring that they have the support and tools to undertake their caring roles. The demand for our services is greater than ever and we will work tirelessly to ensure the continuation and development of our services. We not only want to retain the services that we currently offer, but are committed to developing new and innovative services and provide the best support for carers in Swansea.I hope to be able to meet with many of you during the next few months, to hear your views about the needs of carers and or feel free to get in touch with me at the Swansea Carers Centre.

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and New Year. Ifor

... page 1 ...@SwanseaCarers Swanseacarerscentre

Welcome

... page 2 ... For latest news visit www.swanseacarerscentre.org.

Mind, Body, Spirit projectWe have had an amazing spring

and summer on the training project, running 45 mind, body & spirit training sessions and providing 67 holistic therapies for 111 carers/former carers up to September. Thank you to all our trainers and to all the people who have taken part so far – we couldn’t do it without you! Thank you also to Liz Roblin for her kind donation of mosaic glass tiles which we are continuing to use. Some of our courses have proved really popular –

mosaic making, mindfulness & meditation and 3 Principles – so thank you to those on our waiting lists for being patient, as we hope to run

more of these courses. A big thank you to Henry

Smith and the Community Foundation in Wales for funding this worthwhile project making a difference to carers in Swansea. If you are an unpaid or family carer living in Swansea (or have recently stopped caring for someone) go to www.swanseacarerscentre.org.uk to check out our latest training or contact Ali on (01792) 653344 [email protected]

CReATIVe TIMe WITH CAReRS

by Mary Hayman

I have really enjoyed being involved with groups of carers in various activities. I am a member of the Carers Choir, have participated in beach sculpture and Bollywood dancing workshops and have led practical art courses. Mosaic making with small groups has been really rewarding. There has been a strong sense of camaraderie and willingness to ‘have a go’. I have been amazed at the calm concentration at times when everyone is absorbed in the activity and we have all had a good laugh

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Mind, Body, Sprit Project

Mind, Body, Spirit project

while developing skills. Plantasia was the venue for a session of sketching and painting from observation. Now I am looking forward to running a course for people to create paintings on canvas for Swansea Carers Centre and their own homes

.

CARINg FROM THe INSIDe OuT – 3 PRINCIPLeS TRAININg

by Karenza Cassidy Mary

Many a time have I been grateful to Swansea Carers Centre over the years in my role as a carer to my son with autism. The trainings, support groups, counselling, benefit advice and treats. They have truly seen me through some very hard times. One Friday afternoon this gratitude was overflowing as I telephoned Ali with bursting enthusiasm to let her know of my experience on the Three Principles Course, a six week course delivered by Alex Waters.

This was a wonderful opportunity to keep in touch

with the ‘real’ world outside a caring role, which I am sadly no longer doing. It is comforting, yet stimulating, informative and constructive. I would encourage others to participate should the opportunity present itself. I really hope it does – go for it!” (Carer, Stress Control)

This year has been one of the toughest years yet in my caring role and it has led to something I have not experienced before,

awful anxiety. It started with a bubbling discomfort and unease and grew into panic attacks that were coming more and more often. I felt that the world was swallowing me up. It was a never ending feeling of fear of the future, thumbing heartbeat and relentless churning. The circumstances that led me to this anxiety were unresolved and I could not despite my best efforts find my strength or calm. I tried breathing, meditation and walking to name but a few and nothing was hitting the spot.

I’ve been shut away and withdrawn for over a year and this has helped

me come out again” (Carer, Exploring Art)

Week by week on the Three Principles Training I could feel changes, very difficult to explain these slight shifts in feeling. By week five, despite my caring role duties being at their peak, I started to regain my strength and had a real sense that everything was going to be okay. I was in a big multi-disciplinary meeting for my son’s care needs fighting for provisions for his adult life and suddenly I had an urge to stop the meeting and share with these professionals a picture of how this stress of not having appropriate services was affecting us. I was reminding them of my humanity and theirs. I was feeling like a warrior carer and not an anxious mother now.

I would strongly recommend the Three Principles Training for anyone looking to find a powerful approach to re-claiming their sanity, peace of mind and strength, things us carers need on a daily basis. Who knows maybe you could also re-claim some of your dreams and desires too!

Thank you again Swansea Carers Centre!

... page 4 ... For latest news visit www.swanseacarerscentre.org.uk

Mind, Body, Sprit Project

SCuLPTuRe ON THe BeACH WORkSHOP

by Sara Holden, Art and Education by the Sea

I recently ran a sand sculpture workshop on Swansea Beach for Ali and a group of Carers.

It was a blustery and showery start to the day but I usually run my workshops whatever the weather (unless severe) which I find a good rule of thumb to ‘blow away the cobwebs’ and maintain a positive frame of mind. The ladies who came to work with me were

really interested in the workshop and set about to help create some beautiful large scale sand sculptures based on marine life. I explained how using marine animals as our inspiration for the sculptures could actually help these species by bringing awareness of how our lifestyles can impact the health of the ocean and its creatures. The workshop was a great opportunity for everyone to socialise with each other which is perhaps not always possible for people in a caring role. The group enjoyed having their lovely work displayed in a public place on the beach where passers-by came to see and admire – including one Chinese tourist who enthusiastically began photographing the sculptures! It was a very positive workshop I feel and I would love to do another one with this group – their responsiveness and pleasant company would be hard to beat.

AVP WALeS

providing free ‘Managing Conflict’ workshops

This year AVP Wales is running a partnership project to help build long term relationships with other third sector organisations in Wales, promote our work to broader and more diverse communities, and encourage more people to train and volunteer as Workshop Facilitators. The project is funded through a Big Lottery ‘Awards for All’ grant which allows AVP Wales to offer a series of free workshops to our project partners, as well as the opportunity for attendees to apply to train as Volunteer Facilitators over the coming year. AVP workshops are for anyone who would like to deal with conflict positively and build good relationships. The workshops help people to: • manage strong feelings such as anger and fear• deal more effectively with risk and danger• build good relationships with other people• communicate well in difficult situations• recognise the skills you already have and learn new ones• be true to yourself while respecting other people• understand why conflict happensAVP Wales worked with Swansea Carers Centre from July to September 2017 to bring a free 5-day workshop programme to local carers. Feedback from participants

Working with people – the joy of doing all together; the

fun that we had and the pride in what we made” (Carer, Sand Sculpture)


has been overwhelmingly positive and we hope to continue working with Swansea Carers during 2018. We would like to say thank you to the Swansea Carers Centre for all the work that you have done to make the workshop programme such a success. And special thanks to the carers who took part in our workshops, for your commitment, deep engagement and enthusiasm throughout the summer. For more information about AVP Wales or to express an interest in our workshop programme please contact [email protected]

SWITCH OFF, uNPLug AND uNWIND AND geT OuT FOR A WALk WITH NATuRe!!

by Jo Mullett, About Wild Wales

Intrinsically most people just kNOW that nature MuST be good for us but recent analysis of research scientifically PROVeS that nature substantially helps improve both our physical health and well-being. With this in mind this year saw a new idea for Swansea Carers Centre to help give carers a bit of space to unplug switch off, unplug and unwind even for just a few hours, by offering a programme of walks and activities in some stunning locations in and around Swansea.

It is not just the physical activity that improves fitness, strength and flexibility and improves your mood. Nature also provides restorative and nurturing spaces to escape,

Mind, Body, Sprit Projectreleasing feel-good endorphins, reducing stress and anxiety much needed in an increasingly hectic, complicated and chaotic world. Nature in essence is our “natural health service.” The “wilder” the area the better, but your own garden, the local park and even tree at the end of the street can have a marked improvement on your well-being. Hospital patients overlooking green space recover quicker than those with urban landscape and greenery in urban areas has been seen to reduce anti-social behaviour so green is good for us! 5 walks were organised through the “summer” at different sites providing an opportunity for carers to get a little fitter, enjoy a sociable and scenic walk or just enjoy a few moments of peaceful contemplation in the midst of their understandably hectic lives in some stunning beaches, woodlands and wetlands locations in Swansea and gower. I use the word “summer” but in several cases the weather was just terrible, and we did have to cancel a few! But as Alfred Wainwright said “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.” Swansea Carer’s Centre is again hoping to offer another series of walks for 2018 so watch this space for dates and locations and book yourself a place.

Held on

Thursday 23rd November

@ Liberty Stadium

We would like to thank everyone involved for contributing to a very successful Carers Rights Day in 2017. The event was held on Thursday the 23rd November in the gower Suite of the Liberty Stadium, organised in collaboration between Swansea Carers Centre, Swansea Council and ABMu.

The day was opened with a welcome by Conference Chair Ifor Glyn, Director Swansea Carers Centre. The opening address was delivered by Cllr Paulette Smith Swansea Council Carer’s Champion. ABMU Carer’s Champion, Chantal Patel, gave us The ABMu perspective followed by the launch of Swansea Carers Centre‘s new project “Talking Matters” delivered by Christine Nutt, Project Coordinator. Adrian Bailey from SCVS explained all about Co-Production. Luke Clements - Cerebra Professor of Law and Social Justice led an informative and engaging key note discussion.

A special ‘Thank You” to Swansea Carers Choir for entertaining us during the event.

For more information about this conference and forthcoming events, please visit our website and sign up for our e-bulletin.


The Counselling Room


Counselling

It’s that time of year again – summer seems to be a dim and distant memory – and now the days are getting shorter

squeezed into the darkness at both ends of the day. Now don’t get me wrong, I love autumn and the way the trees put on a colourful coat before they shed the beauty and just become dark and drab ready for the winter ahead.

It can be quite a challenging time of year – on one hand there are lots of exciting things on the horizon for lots of people – Halloween and Christmas and the general excitement that surrounds those occasions, not to mention all the sales and the general hype in the shops. However for others the reality is quite different – money – or the lack of it – is a huge problem for many people and we can feel tempted to spend more than we can afford and then perhaps feel that we have put ourselves into a financial trap. It can also be a time of loneliness and isolation for many people and carers can sometimes fall into this category.

For many carers, their caring role has meant that they have lost many of their friends and

the social life that went with them. Many people do not understand that when you are caring for someone it is not always possible to get away from it and then, if we are not careful, we can slide into a bit of a negative frame of mind and just not bother to try and have a social life.

Help is always at hand here at the Carer’s Centre – there are lots of different training events and social activities as well as support groups and opportunities to do something different. But please don’t forget we have a counselling service that is free to all carers. It is always good to talk to someone about how we feel, so if you feel you would benefit by talking to someone then please give me a ring. Lots of people tend to think “Oh I don’t want to bother anyone with my problems – there are probably lots of people worse off than me”. PLeASe, PLeASe do not think that way you are very important – so please don’t suffer in silence – give me a ring or email me and we can make an appointment.

Telephone 01792 [email protected]

'Talking Matters' is a service that empowers families to make decisions together about how to agree and commit to care plans that are in the best interest for all involved. The service aims to identify and engage relatives and other supportive adults connected to a person with any level of care needs to help them maintain their independence.

REFERRALSReferrals are taken from professionals whofeel that their client or patient may benefit from the service. Once a referral is in place, we will work with all the family members in an inclusive and unbiased approach.

Telephone 01792 653344 for more information


As I sit at our information stand in Morriston or Singleton Hospital so many people pass rushing to an

appointment, supporting a friend or relative. I’ve always had the urge to shout ‘STOP! Did you know you are a carer and we may be able to help you?’ However, many hundreds have stopped since our project began in December 2016, people like John who came back to thank us for the information and advice on continuing health care, providing him with a checklist of what to look for and ask when choosing a nursing home and more importantly how to prepare for a meeting with all those involved in his mother’s care. Heavy stuff you’re thinking, but on a lighter note there was the lady due to come in for an operation worrying about who would care for her elderly dog. (No dogs home for him!) She had thought about cancelling the operation! We put her in touch with the Cinnamon Trust and when I saw her a few weeks ago attending an outpatients clinic she said a wonderful volunteer from the Trust had cared for ‘her Peppy’ You never know, knowing her little dog was in safe hands may have aided her recovery?

For families with loved ones being discharged from hospital information is so important and this is why I walk the wards meeting staff, families and patients, distributing literature and providing a range of information. As my colleague Karen commented in our last issue ‘Life can change so quickly. Many people reading this may not be carers at the moment but they may be in the future.’ Hospital Staff who are working carers have also benefitted from our talks, people like Susan who works and cares for her mother. They knew nothing about the Benefit System and were referred to our centre. When her mother was awarded higher rate Attendance Allowance she rang Susan in work in total disbelief. Susan’s relief was greater ‘Mum can now pay someone to do the lawns and repairs something I was trying to fit in between work and caring for her, it’s taken a weight off my shoulders and I would never have completed those

forms, please say thank you to the lovely lady in your office’ We have built good relationships with the Patients Advice and Liaison Services within Morriston and Singleton Hospitals and they really go the extra mile to smooth out or solve any issues raised by families or patients whilst in hospital. We regularly refer to them and in turn they refer to us when families require further information.

We also work closely with our colleagues in Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot Carers Centres referring those living in their catchment area, but we have had people seeking information as far afield as Aberyswyth, Fishguard and Brecon and we always seem to find a ‘man who can’ Our information portfolio grows weekly!!!

Being well informed, knowing what services can help, or how to go about things is really empowering and can increase a patient or carers capacity to act on life issues inside or outside the health arena. It helps people take control of their lives and contributes to the management of the impact of illness in everyday life – for Peppy’s owner, all it took was peace of mind. On that pleasant note may I wish you all a joyful Christmas and a peaceful New Year .

Kind regardsLiz Rees & Karen Keey - Hospital Outreach WorkersDavid Thomas & Patricia Jones –VolunteersTel: 01792 [email protected]

See us at Morriston Hospital Tuesdays & Thursdays, Singleton Wednesdays, Gorseinon & Cefn Coed Thursday afternoons

Caring for PeppyHospital Outreach


GP Carer Awareness

Swansea Carers Centre working with GP practices to recognise carers in a partnership of care.

Our exciting 5 year Carers Awareness Project, funded by The Big Lottery Fund – People and Places grant began

in June. The funding is enabling us to work long term and intensively with gP’s and other front line healthcare professionals, across Swansea, to increase carer awareness, identification and referrals.

So far 13 surgeries have fully engaged with the scheme and many more carers have been identified by professionals in surgeries, enabling them to have better access to support and therefore improving their health and wellbeing.

Project Co-ordinator karen keey said “Nine out of ten carers attend their local gP surgery every year; however, many of these do not identify themselves as carers and therefore miss out on the help and support they could be receiving. Health professionals are well placed to identify carers at an early stage and signpost them for support. When carers are identified early and properly supported, they are more able to continue in their caring roles. We want more people in Swansea to be recognised as carers by frontline healthcare staff and register with their gP’s, so that they can access the services they need and help them avoid a crisis.”

Cwmfelin SurgeryCwmfelin Surgery was one of the first surgeries to fully engage with the scheme. They are working with Swansea Carers Centre to develop an integrated approach to identifying carers. Regular Carers Clinics are held at the Surgery where carers can drop in and speak to a member of staff from the Carers Centre. Working with the project, the surgery now has a referral process in place and a dedicated noticeboard for Carers. We have also met with the Practice Manager, Shannon Thomas, and the gP’s working at the surgery to talk about the services Swansea Carers Centre has to offer carers and the importance of helping to identify carers early and signposting them to us.

Practice Manager Shannon said, “karen attended one of our monthly clinical meetings to talk to the Practice about the invaluable services Swansea Carers Centre provides. The gP’s were not fully aware of the help and services available, and with the information karen provided us with, the gP’s are now able to pass on this information to patients and carers. In the past, many patients and carers leave the gP’s room with information but never actually contact Swansea Carers Centre. The new referral process is a great help, as once a referral is sent off, the Carer will get a call from the Centre to identify any needs.”


Young Adult Carers

What another brilliant year for the Young Adult Carers project, Since it started in September 2015 we

have supported over 70 YAC from the city and county of Swansea. In the last year we have support young people with 1-2-1 support session covering; how they feel, finances, housing, caring role, managing at home, education, work, volunteering and relationships. We also have had our youth clubs which are the 1st Thursday and 3rd Friday of each month where we have had various people come in to do session linked to health and wellbeing, first aid and even consultations linked to the National Assembly for Wales and Swansea university Carers Package.

Over the summer we have had some amazing opportunities on top of our usual youth club sessions thanks to Sports Wales and Carers Trust funding. The YACs have done various sporting activities from going

gorge walking at Dinas Rock, glyn Neath; Paintballing with Team Force; bouncing around at Limitless Trampoline park; as

well as having a fun filled day at Clyne Farm activity centre where they went horse riding, rock climbing, did archery and then the Famous Muddy Assault course. To round off the summer we also had qualified first aid session, confidence and wellbeing workshop and wonderful summer ball in collaboration with the young carers at YMCA.

The Young Adult Carers who attend our twice monthly youth club applied for some funding from Swansea Youth Bank (run by young people at SCVS). Their idea was to create a documentary of what life is like as a Young Adult Carer so they were able to raise awareness of what they do and also the support that is on offer to them. We are very pleased announce that the Young Adult carers were awarded these funds to create this documentary and are now in the process of filming. Well done guys!

If you know a carer aged between 16 to 24 years of age who could benefit from support from the project, please contact Alex/Ruth on 01792 653344 or alternatively email: [email protected]

We wouldn’t know about opportu-nities without the YAC Workers.”

I wouldn’t have been able to go to the meeting on my own and I really

needed someone to back me up and speak up for me.”

I would be homeless if YAC staff hadn’t stepped in and helped.”

#SummerFun#WellDeservedBreak


Introducing our new volunteers

Volunteering

Hi, I’m Ruth the new Volunteer Coordinator, and Young Adult Carers

Project Worker at Swansea Carers Centre.On behalf of everyone at Swansea Carers Centre I want to say a huge THANk YOu to all our volunteers. We couldn’t run our services without your help, and our volunteers’ time and dedication is much appreciated. Since coming into post I’ve been humbled to realise just how long many of our volunteers have been supporting Swansea Carers Centre. There are lots of plans for the future, including a new volunteering newsletter and regular training

and volunteer drop-in coffee mornings, so watch this space, and please do let me know any of your own ideas!We’re always looking for new volunteers so if you are too busy yourself, then perhaps you know someone else who has time on their hands or who needs a stepping stone into paid work. Training and travel expenses are provided, so it’s a brilliant way to gain work experience and job references, or to stay active in retirement. There are many different volunteering opportunities at Swansea Carers Centre, from our Ty Conway respite day centre, to outreach work at the hospitals and in the community, holistic therapies, right through to behind the scenes work at the office. For more information, or an initial chat please phone Ruth on 01792 653344 or email: [email protected]

60 Seconds with DAVID THOMAS

Tell us what you do as a volunteer:

I am involved in publicity, general advice, information and general awareness of Swansea Carers Centre’s services. Sign posting clients into services and connecting with other organisations at Morriston Hospital.

Why did you get involved?

To contribute something positive to the community, and volunteering has given me a positive goal, it has also given me employability skills. I hope that I’ve been able to provide accurate information about being a carer and caring to carers of all ages and walks of life.

In Summary:

It is a very positive experience, I am learning new skills, gaining confidence and a fresh positive outlook on life, after being a carer for so long. Volunteering is highly recommended for those interested in becoming a volunteer themselves.

60 Seconds with STEVE JONES

Tell us what you do as a volunteer?

I do whatever is required and help out where Swansea Carers Centre needs a hand. I’ve been primarily helping in the finance department.

Why did you get involved?

Now I am retired myself, I have time to spare and it gives me an interest back in a professional field. For myself there is the feel good factor of doing something for others. It’s using the skills that I have from my working life, and maintaining those skills. Also meeting other people. I try to help take the pressure off other people, by doing what I can so that they can get on with other tasks.

In Summary:

Starting volunteering has confirmed for me volunteering now is a good lifestyle decision. Also I am a carer so volunteering at Swansea Carers Centre ties the two parts of my life up. I let as many people as I can know about Swansea Carers Centre.


Vounteer at Ty Conway

In September we welcomed staff from the DVLA in Swansea who came and volunteered at our day centre, Ty Conway, as part of their National Social Inclusion Week. For two days the staff painted the fences and raised beds, cut back the plants and weeded the flower beds. The end result was amazing. They made such a difference. Many thanks to – Leanne Cutts, Karys Dermody, Laura Jones, Clare Mogford, Kathryn Rees and Louise White from the DVLA for their fantastic effort.

If you would like to find out more about our day centre Ty Conway and our sitting service then contact Viv Arthur on 01792 578158 or log onto our website

Give carers a break - Volunteer!

Can you spare one day a week to join our friendly team of volunteers at Ty Conway day centre in Brenig Road, Penlan? No

experience is needed, just reliability, a caring attitude and the ability to chat to older people. We need volunteers to offer additional support to the staff team in providing day care for older people who may be physically disabled, frail and/or suffering from memory loss. The aim of this role is giving family carers a break; planning and organising activities for the day care visitors; and one to one support for older people.

Training and travel expenses are provided, so it’s a brilliant way to gain work experience and job references. And you will have the satisfaction of giving Ty Conway visitors a nice day out, while their family carers take a well-earned break.If you are too busy yourself, perhaps you know someone else who has time on their hands or needs a stepping stone into paid work and training. For more information, please phone Ruth on 01792 653344 or email: [email protected]

Thank you DVLA


Taking care of carers

Thank you to Julia Manser for this edition’s carers swap recipe

Do you have a favourite or fool-proof cooking recipe? Would you like to share it with other carers?

Recipes received will feature in future editions of the Carers Courier – and if we receive enough, we may be able to turn them into an e-book!Please send them in to Ali:[email protected]. Tell us the name of the recipe, the list of ingredients and method. Remember that they have to be your own original recipes (not copied from a website or book)2. Include a photo if you can (not copied or copyrighted)3. Include your name and contact details4. Tell us briefly why you have chosen this recipe (max 100 words)You can send us more than one recipe, and we are particularly interested in simple, budget or quick recipes.

Carers Recipe Swap

Ratatouille Pie

• Bake 1 very large sweet potato in the

oven until soft enough to mash

• Add to a pan a little olive oil, add 2

finely chopped onions until translucent,

add 1 tsp of salt, 2 garlic cloves and then

add 2 small and sliced courgettes, 2 sliced

peppers, 1 cup of sliced, mushrooms,

• Then mix in 1 tbsp each of oregano,

basil, paprika, chilli , smoked paprika.

Cook for a couple of minutes

• Then add 2 tins of chopped tomatoes

simmer for 10-12 minutes without lid.

• Put the tomato veg & spiced mixture

into a casserole dish.

• Mash sweet potato adding salt and

pepper to taste, minced garlic, 1 tbsp basil

–use dairy free vegan spread or olive oil

& ¼ cup of soya milk. Add sweet potato

mash to the top / roughly fork over.

• Bake at 200 degrees for

20 minutes

Free Legal Advice Sessions for CarersNewLaw recognises that many carers are often faced with a minefield of information about power of attorney, deputyship and other legal matters.We want to help carers by providing this free initial advice session without the worry of unknown and expensive fees. It they decide to instruct us we will work on a fixed fee basis.Once a month, NewLaw run a free initial advice session for carers. These are individual one hour appointments which need to be booked in advance.

They are able to advise on:WillsTrustsFunding for careCapacityLasting Powers of AttorneyEstate/Tax planningProtection of AssetsCourt of Protection and DeputyshipEstate Administration

If you wish to book an appointment then contact

Linda on 01792 653344 or email [email protected]

BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL

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All information is correct at the time of printing. Swansea Carers Centre reserve the right to amend the diary as necessary.

1st Monday of the Month Holistic Therapies for Carers, various locations. Carers can enjoy a free pampering session. Therapies include massage, reflexology and craniosacral therapy.

1st Tuesday of the Month Family support group for those caring for a young person aged 14+ with a learning disability - 10 - 12pm, Friends of the Young Disabled building, Cwmbwrla. The group is friendly, social and confidential. each month various professionals from health, social care and education are invited to speak on a topic chosen by parent carers. 1st Wednesday of the Month Book Club for Carers and Former Carers, 2pm-3.30pm The book club is open to carers and former carers. A chance to meet up, discuss the ‘book of the month’ and have a coffee and a chat.

2nd Tuesday of the Month Mental Health Carers’ Support Group, 6.30pm-8.30pm, 104 Mansel Street, Swansea This group is open to people who are carers or former carers of someone with a mental health problem.

3rd Tuesday of the Month Mental Health Carers’ Group, 2pm-4pm, Cwmbwrla Day Centre This group is open to people who are carers or former carers of someone with a mental health problem.

1st Thursday of the Month &3rd Friday of the Month Young Adult Carers (16-25yr olds) Youth Club, 6pm-8.30pm, ethnic Youth Support Team [eYST] 11 St. Helens Road Chance to socialise, try something new and have some much needed relaxation time

Find the right support group for you!

Swansea Carers Centre offer a wide variety of support groups for carers and former carers.

Documents

Carers Courier - SwanseaCarersCentre · Answer phone service available out of hours Personal Callers (11am-4pm) Email: [email protected] ... The Courier The Courier