Islington Giving is recruiting a small group of carers to join our Carers’ Panel, steering the way for meaningful support and funding for carers in Islington.
The Carers’ Fund will offer unpaid carers the opportunity to take part in a resident-led programme to increase projects and services benefitting and supporting carers in Islington. The objectives of the project are:
- To support people doing unpaid caring work in the borough
- To give residents ownership over the issues they live with and put power into the hands of carers to shape the services and opportunities available to them
- To provide opportunities for carers to develop new skills, connect with peers, learn new skills – including shaping a funding call and making funding decisions about applications received – and access further opportunities both with Islington Giving and in other parts of civil society (e.g. joining our group of resident experts).
With the essential support of local carers to steer our approach and decide on how to prioritise funding, over the coming months we will be offering grants to a range of existing carers’ groups in Islington in a new project generously funded by The Mercers’ Company.
Join the Carers’ Panel
Following a recent consultation period, during which we met and spoke to unpaid carers in spaces and services they are already accessing – the Carers’ Hub, Mother2Mother and the Carers Forum – as well as consulting one of our own trustees who is a carer, we have designed an approach which aims to balance the needs of participating carers (time limitations, for example) with our aim to put carers at the heart of the process.
60% of carers in the UK report a long-term health condition or disability and 29% of carers feel lonely often or always (Carers UK, 2022)
We are in the process of recruiting a small group of carers (3 or 4) to join our ‘Steering Group’. Steering Group members will be paid for their time. Their role will be:
- to advise and confirm our approach
- to identify groups who could benefit from funding
- to visit groups to consult with carers about how they would like to spend the available funds and/or help complete applications with groups.
- to make final decisions about applications.
“We want to use our knowledge of resident led giving, but also to test an approach, which will ensure as many carers as possible have some part in the process.” ~Islington Giving
There are a range of carers in the borough – children caring for family members, parents caring for children often into adulthood, older people caring for partners, people caring for a friend or relative who are using substances, to name a few. We would like as many of these groups as possible to benefit from the funding, and it will hugely benefit us to have opportunity to hear from as many carers as possible, in order to influence and shape our own future work with carers, as well as to share these insights with others to enhance what is available to carers now and in the future.
If you have any questions, would like to have an informal chat about the Carers’ Fund, and / or would like to join the panel, please contact our Programme Manager, Laura Guy on laura.guy@cripplegate.org.uk
