Last week we celebrated Carers Week (9 – 15 June), an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges that unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK.
With the theme this year ‘Caring About Equality’ we took the opportunity to shine a light on some of the challenges and inequalities unpaid carers often face. Far too often, carers of all-ages miss out on opportunities in their education, careers, or personal lives because of their caring role.
The week was jam packed with opportunities to help break down some of the barriers faced by carers. Starting with a relaxing pamper morning to help carers unwind from the stresses of caring for a loved one, followed by informative drop-in sessions and advice sharing on social media, we hope everyone got a chance to get involved.
On Thursday 12th June we held a Carers Information Marketplace, for unpaid carers and member so the local community to find out about the support on offer from Crossroads and other local organisations – Healthy Sandwell, Age UK Sandwell, Sandwell African Caribbean Mental Health Foundation and The Kaleidoscope Plus Group.
We were pleased to also be joined by a representative from Rentokil Initial. He presented us with a generous donation of £1,600 towards our continued work to support carers across Sandwell, Birmingham and the Black Country.
Chris Christie, CEO at Crossroads said, “Carers Week is an opportunity for us all to recognise the vital contribution carers make to support some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. We would like to say a huge thank you to Rentokil Initial for their kind donation which will allow us to continue to hold events like this to raise awareness of the support that is available to unpaid carers. And also thank you for supplying the unique toppings for our ice cream van!”
As part of Rentokil’s 100 Charities initiative and summer ‘Pestival’, those who came along were able to take part in their very own bushtucker trial with some edible creepy crawlies! From milk chocolate ‘cricketto’ (whole crickets in rich milk chocolate), to mealworm swirl, they certainly added some extra crunch!
Ali Stewart from Brandhall was keen to sample the delicacies, commenting, “They were really nice actually, after you got over the look of them!”
