This Carers Week (5th – 11th June) saw hundreds of unpaid carers from across Sandwell and the Black Country come together to take part in events and activities organised by Crossroads as a thank you for the support they give to their loved ones all year round.
Carers Week is an annual campaign to highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contributions they make to families and communities.
Throughout the week we aimed to highlight the crucial role that carers play in the lives of thousands of people across the UK and we hosted a week of events to shine a light on carers and the support services that we can offer.
To kick off the week, our Carers Dementia Service held a special Dementia Support Group, where family carers and their loved ones with dementia enjoyed a fabulous morning of singing and dancing thanks to entertainer Vijay. He got everyone on the dancefloor singing classic hits and cultural favourites!
Family carer Arshdeep, who attended the event with his dad said, “Dad has really enjoyed the session! It’s great to see him enjoying himself and dancing, which he’s not done for a long time. My family has seen a real improvement in him since we started to attend the support groups with him. We have new knowledge about dementia, we’re all learning more ways to cope with dad’s condition and most importantly, everyone is more positive.
Our Dudley Carers Wellbeing Service also had a busy week, with our Dudley young carers team hosing a youth club for 5 – 18 year old carers and enjoying a successful evening at the We Love Carers Awards – read full story here.
Our adult carers team took a group of adult carers out on a daytrip to Trentham Gardens in Staffordshire and had a fantastic walking group session in the sunshine at Mary Stevens Park in Stourbrige.
Our Carers Assistance Line team made sure that we ended the week on a high with a brilliant Carers Fun Day!
The Fun Day took place on Saturday 10th June at St Michaels school in Rowley Regis. It was an opportunity for Crossroads to thank unpaid carers by offering carers of all ages, their family and friends a day of fun at no cost to them.
There was inflatable’s, carnival games, face painting, delicious hot food and cakes, refreshments and much more!
Councillor Simon Hackett, Cabinet Member for Children and Education in Sandwell, joined in the fun and said, “Carers in Sandwell do a fantastic job supporting their loved ones all year round. I’m really pleased that we can celebrate and thank them this Carers Week with events like this.”
