carer’s newsletter · to find out more phone: 0121 663 0335 or email [email protected] find...
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Carer’s
Newsletter April - September 2019
Volunteer with us - contact our Volunteer Coordinator on 0121 788 1143
What a difference 6 months can make!
Since our last newsletter Carers Trust Solihull
won the ‘All Age Carers Support’ contract
from SMBC and will be continuing to support
the carers of Solihull!
We are now part of the Community Wellbeing
Service along with several other third sector
charities and projects. We will continue to
work cooperatively to improve the services to
Solihull residents.
Through these last few months our staff, volunteers and trustees have worked to improve
and develop our services. This is to ensure that when the new services start on April 1st
there will be minimum disruption, ensuring continuity for the services you say work and
meet your needs, as well as new services that add to what we offer. Behind the scenes
we are investing in improving the range of frequency of training we can provide, the
quality of our information materials and, after a major overhaul of our website, we want to
refresh and improve its core content, making it more accessible and our website truly
interactive.
We hope you will come to enjoy and value the established and new services we will be
able to offer. And be confident your views and constructive criticism would be eagerly
welcomed.
Brandon Scott-Omenka
Chief Executive Officer
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News and updates
Our annual network meeting
On Monday 4th February we held our annual network
meeting at Solihull Council Civic Suite. We were
joined by members of the council, other organisations,
professionals and carers to celebrate our work over
the past year and to look at our plans for the future.
Our CEO Brandon Scott-Omenka lead the meeting
and presented some local statistics on caring. There
are now approximately 26,520 carers in Solihull and
carers registering with the Carers Trust Solihull rose
by 24.8% between 2017-2018. Over the year we have
delivered 22 training sessions, 14 respite days, 6
relaxation sessions and 34 carers support groups for
adult carers.
Brandon also shared the vision for the future of Carers Trust Solihull with plans to grow
access to social and web-based information along with personal and practical support for
safe and compassionate caring. We also said goodbye to our Chair Trustees Jane Cove
who has chaired the trust for 5 years and her dedication and contribution to Carers Trust
Solihull has helped to make it what it is today. We are happy to welcome Carole Whittock
as our new Chair of Trustees.
Social Media
Over the next six month we aim for our
service to be more interactive and we
are working on our digital strategy.
Through this we hope to give carers
access to more support. To make sure
you don’t miss out on what's coming
make sure you are following us on…
@solihullcarerstrust
@carerssolihull
@carerstrustsolihull
Isn’t it time you had
your say?
Would you like to share your views regarding
initiatives, funding, plans and services that
make a difference to carers in Solihull? The
Carers Partnership Board is looking to recruit
carers to become full members. It meets in
the afternoon once every two months and
travel expenses to this meeting can be paid.
We really want to hear you views.
If you are interested in or would like to find
out more, please contact Michelle Stoddard
on 0121 788 1143.
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Our Dementia Friends Champion, Susan
Prince runs regular dementia workshops
throughout the year.
At our last Dementia workshop delivered
in November, attendees learnt some new
coping strategies and how to change their
thinking and approach around caring for
someone with Dementia. The carers that
attended the session fed back to us that
the session “helped me to understand the
Our next Dementia Workshop is on May 9th
check our events diary for more
information and other courses that may support you in your caring role.
What is a Twiddle Muff?
A twiddle muff is for the hands and decorated with
items of interest to that person or items that have
colour or texture that provides sensory stimulation.
They also provide warmth for the hands.
Twiddle muffs can be invaluable for dementia
patients as the decorations (buttons, beads, zips
and ribbons) give them something to do with their
hands and can help calm restless impulses.
Placing of a multi colored blanket can help
someone with dementia easily locate their chair or
bed when there is little to define it as theirs.
We still have some Twiddle Muffs and blankets available to carers who are supporting
someone with dementia. If you would like one please contact us on 0121 788 1143.
We were fortunate to have some twiddle muffs and multi coloured blankets donated to
us from the Mothers' Union in the Diocese of Birmingham and also from Knowles
Mothers’ Union “Knit Wits”.
Dementia Workshops for Carers
main types of dementia” and “it showed me different approaches to challenging situations”.
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Parent Carers Assessments
A Parent Carers Assessment is for carers aged
18+ who provide care to a child with a disability or
additional need for whom they have parental
responsibility. By having an assessment you will
be given the chance to discuss your caring role
and the impact this has on your physical, mental
and emotional wellbeing. The assessment will
focus on support for yourself and is not a means
of accessing support for your child. Don’t be put
off by the word ‘assessment’, it is not a test about
how good you are at caring, it is to work out what can be done to make life easier for
you. We have completed 130 assessments since the project started in April last year,
and have carried out 78 reviews, which has allowed us to measure the impact of the
assessments on parents wellbeing. So far we have found that 90% of parents feel the
support plan gives them enough information to make change, with the most significant
improvements being in ‘how I feel’ and ‘time for myself and family’.
If you would like to find out more about parent carer assessments
call 0121 788 1143
The assessment is for the parent carer only and not a means of accessing support for
the child
A formal diagnosis for the child is required
Contingency Planning
Over the past 6 months we have delivered 4 Contingency Planning Workshops for
carers and carried out 16 one to one contingency plans in carers homes.
As a carer it is important to know that if an emergency happens, replacement care will
be sorted out speedily and efficiently. Through our Contingency Planning Workshops we
help carers to think about different types of emergencies and create an emergency plan.
We look at what resources are available and tools that can help in a crisis. Having a plan
in place will help to ease your worries if you are not able to care for the person you look
after at any point in the future.
You can find the dates of future workshops in our events diary or if you would like a one
to one meeting to discuss a contingency plan, call us on 0121 788 1143.
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GP Health Liaison Project
Surgeries have received a carers pathway and regular Carers information. The
Health Liaison service has attended flu vaccination sessions, talked with Patient
Participation Groups, visited GP and hospital carer’s coffee afternoons and worked at
many health events. Carers Week has been celebrated with surgeries and Carers
Questions sessions are being held in a variety of surgery receptions.
The Health/GP coordinator also works closely with health professionals at UHB
(University Hospitals Birmingham) to shape Carers Support on the wards.
There are some great GP practice initiatives taking place, some examples are,
Bosworth Drive Surgery staff work directly with us to improve services for carers.
Northbrook Surgery introducing a carers coffee afternoon and collecting over 100
Easter Eggs for Young Carers. Hobs Moat Surgery has been rated as outstanding
within the “caring” category of their CQC inspection and includes reference to our
monthly Carers Questions sessions. The G.P.S Group have welcomed our services
with open arms throughout their surgeries and Bernays and Whitehouse Medical
partnership are holding their second Under One Roof event (see our events diary)
bringing together services that benefit carers and service users alike.
With heavy demands placed on Carers, health professionals and support agencies it
is evident that working together can help improve experiences for Carers in health
settings.
Ask your GP or receptionist to include your details on the surgeries carers register to
alert them of your caring responsibilities. Any queries when registering let us know
and we can help.
If you have Carer experiences in health services good or not so good, contact Linda
Bonfield the GP/Health Coordinator with your views. We can use your feedback
positively to help shape Care services .
email [email protected] or call 0121 7881143 .
From April 2019 Health Liaison becomes a
core part of Solihull Carers Trusts services.
Our work will continue to encourage health
professionals to “Think Patient Think Carer”
asking health professionals to recognise and
support carers within their work settings.
Since the project started over 20 Solihull GP
Practice Managers representing 36 surgeries
have engaged in a variety of initiatives.
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Useful Information
Solihull Council, working with Dodd Group and Act on Energy,
is starting a new project offering some residents free gas
central heating.
The project will focus on the installation of first time gas
central heating to owner occupiers and Solihull Community
Housing tenants where gas is not the primary heating source.
Where electricity is used for heating we will be replacing this with gas condensing boilers with the aim of:
improving energy efficiency, and
reducing the running costs for residents
The project will support households from fuel poor areas or those on low incomes. The aim is to help improve the health of local people which could be made worse by living in a cold home. We will be providing support for up to 125 owner-occupied households using external funding from National Grid. With a further 125 for Solihull Community Housing tenants
For further information about this project, or to register your interest, either: email Act on Energy at [email protected] or
call the Freephone number 0800 988 2881
The Better Living Centre in Solihull works to provide help and support to elderly adults,
young disabled adults and carers. It gives free and impartial advice from trained staff
and demonstrations of useful gadgets, adaptations and equipment.
The Centre is located at
The Better Living Centre
Unit 4, Elmdon Trading Estate, Bickenhill Lane,
Solihull B37 7HE
We showcase the equipment available on tours of the Better Living Centre every
Wednesday and Friday at 9.00am, 11.00am and 1.00pm. Places on the tour must be
pre-booked in advance by:
calling 0121 329 0909 sending an email to [email protected]
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Recom’s aim is to get people online! The charity aim to bridge the gap in the local
community where some individuals may be digitally excluded. They do this by
providing a variety of training and low cost refurbished computer for charities,
individuals with disabilities and low income families.
To find out more
Phone: 0121 663 0335 or email [email protected]
Find Reputable Trader
If you’re looking for a builder, roofer, landscaper, electrician or any other trade
professional visit www.noroguetradershere.com. No Rogue Traders Here (NRTH)
works in conjunction with Solihull Trading Standards, to rigorously vet all businesses
who apply to join the network. This decreases the chances of things going wrong,
when you need to hire a trader.
More than just a recommendation service, NRTH is completely free for consumers;
monitoring the work and the price you are charged. Working with Trading Standards,
NRTH will also provide practical support to consumers if things go wrong.
Just go to www.noroguetradershere.com to register
or you can phone for free on 0800 233 5000.
Solihull Active is a campaign which aims to
promote participation in sport & physical
activity. There are a wide range of opportunities in
Solihull that can help you be more active. They
have activities including walking groups, Tai Chi, Dance and walking football. Not
only do they have a range of activities to meet everyone's needs they have a
wellbeing hub which includes exercise programmes for those with long term health
conditions such as Cancer, Parkinson's, Respiratory and cardiac problems. They
also provide healthy lifestyle assessments.
To find out more visit there website www.solihullactive.co.uk alternatively you can
contact them on 0121 704 8207.
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The theme for Carers Week 2019 is Getting Carers connected to their community.
Carers Trust Solihull will be celebrating and raising awareness all week. We will be
holding...
Information and advice points in
Chelmsley Wood and Solihull Town
Centres.
A carers celebration event at a
secret venue with music, food
and entertainment.
A live online question and
answers session hosted by
our Chief Executive Brandon
Scott-Omenka.
A carers and family beach trip to
Western Super-Mare!
Through digital platforms we aim to make carers week accessible to everyone. Keep an
eye on our social media and website to find our more details about what we have planned
for the week and how you can get involved.
Annual Charity Walk
Join us on our annual charity walk in the
beautiful Warwickshire countryside. This
will be our 3rd annual walk and we hope
to make it the biggest one yet. For more
information call us on 0121 788 1143.
Sunday 9th
June 2019 10am – Register
10.30 – Walk Begins Venue: Badesley Clinton House B93 0DQ
Walk registration Fee: £5 adults / £3 Children
All money
raised goes to
support carers
in Solihull
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Adult Carers (25+) how can the
Carers Trust Solihull Support you?
Emotional Support
a listening ear when you need it
Events and Activities
We support carers with day trips and short breaks
Information and Advice
we offer info & advice and help carers access support
Carers Assessments
helping you to manage your own health and wellbeing
Carers Support Groups
Offering peer support
Training and Workshops
Giving you tools to continue to care
Carers Card
Recognising you as a carer with access to some discounts
Befriending
We link carers with volunteers who assist them in achieving goals
Influencing Change
We will keep an eye on local and the national picture and act as a voice for carers
We understand how important having the right support
at the right time can be. We offer a wide range of free
services that can support you in your caring role. The
aim is to equip carers with the information, skills and
confidence to continue in their caring role.
If you are caring for someone and you would like some information and support you
can call us on 0121 788 1143 and speak to one of our Carers Practitioners. You can
also arrange to drop in to see us at our centre.
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Thank you for supporting us!
Shirley Lions kindly donated £800 to
adult carers for respite activities. This
funding was used to take 30 carers to
the theatre to see Dirty Dancing. Carers
feedback they had a wonderful night!
Moore & Tibbits Solicitors have kindly
run a variety of free workshops and talks
for the Carers Trust Solihull. They have
covered topics such as Wills and Power
of Attorney, Care Cost and CHC funding.
This information has been so valuable
for our carers, it has allowed them to be
empowered in their caring role and make
informed decisions.
If you live in Solihull and you are caring for someone
you can register with our service. When you register
(which is free) you will be sent an information pack
containing your Carers Identity Card. This can be used
to...
Keep the telephone numbers of who to contact in an
emergency.
Alert others, including the emergency services that
you are a carer and may have someone at home who
depends on you.
Obtain concessions at varies local venues and
attractions when presenting the card.
Cards expire every 2 years so if you do have one
check to see if it is still in date.
Carers Card
Please call us on 0121 788 1143 if you require a new carers card or would like to
find out more about it.
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Recent Events
Over the past 6 months over 150 carers have engaged in our events and activities
programme. There have been trips to the theatre, museums visits, relaxation days,
training sessions and support groups. Through these sessions we hope to offer
carers respite and the opportunity to look after their own wellbeing.
Keep updated with the latest information by joining our email mailing
list. You will receive a monthly email letting you know what's on that
month, information you may find useful and the opportunity to feedback
and share your views around carer issues.
To join our mailing list email
Dirty Dancing the Musical
Black Country Living Museum
Group Christmas Party
Wedgewood Pottery Museum
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Useful Contacts
Carers Trust - Solihull 0121 788 1143
Solihull Social Services 0121 704 8007
Social Services out of hours 0121 605 6060
Community Advice Hub 0121 705 3588
Drop in service
Carers Trust Solihull
620 Streetsbrook Road
Solihull
B91 1QY
Tel: 0121 788 1143
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.solihullcarers.org
Twitter: @carerssolihull
If you are a carer and need advice
or support feel free to drop into the
carers centre. Our drop in times
are...
Mon - Thurs 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 3pm