Swindon Carers Centre Annual Report 2015/16

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“Great weight off my mind as I can now buy in help as and when needed. Wonderful - please ... 489 Facebook 'likes' awa
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Swindon Carers Centre Annual Report 2015/16 Improving Quality of Life for Carers since 1997

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Foreword

Contents Foreword Organisational Change Strategic Aims and Objectives Working towards Strategic Aims and Priorities: Organisation Adult Carer Support Parent Carer Support Young Carer Support Carer Support Team Volunteers Communications Development Financial Review Plans for the future Our Impact Infographic

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In November 2015, the national organisation Carers UK estimated there are now more than 21,000 unpaid carers in Swindon, saving our economy a phenomenal £395 million every year. It is vitally important that carers, who are crucial in our community, receive the support and advice they deserve and we place great importance on feedback from carers about how we can further develop services to meet their needs. I’d like to thank them for their honesty and constructive suggestions. I believe Swindon Carers Centre has many strengths but a key one is our dedicated team of staff and volunteers. I am really proud of all their achievements and it is brilliant to look back on a packed year and look forward to new challenges ahead. The period of change and development we are going through is a great opportunity to work with other organisations to share expertise and best practice. I hope you enjoy reading about what we’ve done over the past year and what we plan to do over the next 12 months!

Susanna Jones, Interim CEO It's a pleasure to be Chair of Swindon Carers Centre and see it grow and develop over the past year. We are working hard to ensure our structure can support the current needs of carers in Swindon and I'm sure you will agree, this annual report not only celebrates the hard work of the team at SCC, but more importantly the hard work unpaid carers in Swindon do every day.

Ian Price, Chair of Trustees

"You've saved my life; I genuinely mean that. I couldn't have got through the past few weeks without your support, just listening to me has helped as you've really kept me calm.”

“I would regard it as a huge loss if this course doesn’t run again. It is a tremendous help in dealing with the stresses and pressures of caring.”

Parent carer

Adult carer attending meditation course

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Organisational Change This has been a successful year for Swindon Carers Centre (SCC). We have settled in to our new centrally based premises at Sanford House, which means we are more accessible to carers and well placed to further develop partnership working with other organisations. It also means that we can further enhance our services by looking at improved ways to provide information and support. Following the resignation of the Chief Executive in August 2015, the Board engaged an external consultant to undertake a full review of the structure of the organisation. The recommendations, following consultation with all members of staff, Trustees and commissioners, included a restructure of the leadership arrangements to not only provide more support at the strategic level, but to also offer development opportunities throughout the organisation. Those recommendations were implemented following a robust internal recruitment process in January 2016. A new Leadership Team was created, comprising CEO post, Finance Manager, and new positions of Deputy CEO, Quality Assurance Director, Service Delivery Director and Development and Communications Director. In March 2016, the Board advertised externally for a new CEO, but did not appoint at that time. Interim arrangements to cover the CEO and Deputy CEO roles by existing members of the Leadership Team have been implemented. This internal recruitment has also enabled staff development opportunities to be created at other levels across the organisation. A new Appraisal and Performance Management system has also been introduced, using a Behaviours Framework linked to SCC’s values.

3,526 registered carers in Swindon

SCC Senior Leadership Team Now recommendations on the staffing structure have been moved forward, SCC will focus on Trustee recruitment to further strengthen the Board and prepare for the retirement of two long-standing and experienced Trustees. Both Ian Price and Linda O’Kane will step down during the summer of 2017 once their second terms come to a close. Budget has been set aside to support Trustee recruitment, induction, training and development.

681 new carers registered this year

32.5% increase in the number of new registrations

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Our Strategic Aims and Objectives The charitable purposes of SCC are to relieve the needs of adult, parent and young carers, who are, or were, carrying out a caring role and to support and promote self-help. Our vision of “creating a community where carers are recognised, valued and supported” and our mission “to improve the wellbeing of people with caring responsibilities in and around Swindon” continue to guide our work and charitable purposes. We review our aims, objectives, vision, mission and service provision annually. We are currently working towards achieving our Strategic Plan for 2014–2017. This was produced following individual staff interviews, staff workshops, away day planning and surveys of key stakeholders, including carers and volunteers. The resulting overarching strategic aims are to ensure SCC is: -

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An agent for carer involvement, irrespective of their individual circumstances and impact of their caring role, so carers can be involved in influencing service development at all levels An effective, well-governed and sustainable organisation A high quality experience for anybody who comes into contact with us, ensuring we offer a diverse range of personalised information, advice and support Known, recognised and approachable by those who live and work in the Borough of Swindon

A team of trained and supervised staff and volunteers provide our range of services to deliver our aims and priorities. Priorities for each financial year are devised so we can aspire to our overarching strategic aims. The activities described in this report were undertaken to work towards our strategic aims by achieving the priorities for the 2015/16 financial year.

Priorities for the 2015/16 financial year to work towards our overarching strategic aims included: Improving the ‘carer voice’ by increasing the opportunities for carer involvement

Improving our organisational delivery by further developing our internal processes and environment

Continue to strengthen the Trustee Board and governance structures

Enhance the way we plan and produce our annual financial and fundraising strategy

Improve our high quality service provision by creative and truthful evaluation

Increase carer awareness and ensure sustainability of the organisation by continuously improving our profile, reputation and reach

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Working towards Strategic Aims and Priorities: Organisation This year, SCC received recognition of its high quality internal processes including governance and financial and fundraising controls by securing accreditation of the PQASSO Quality Mark at Level 2. This nationally recognised award offers both users and funders/commissioners external verification of the quality and credibility of an organisation. The award is endorsed by the Charity Commission as meeting the Hallmarks of an Effective Charity, and requires specific criteria around good governance and compliance to be met. In August 2015, we were accredited with the Carers Trust Centre of Excellence award. The reviewer’s report noted; “They (SCC) are represented on a number of partnerships to ensure that carers are identified and supported across the area. Carer involvement is present across all levels of carer engagement. All of the staff and carers spoken to during the visit were clear in their view that the services offered by the SCC are determined by the needs of actual carers. Carer involvement is a priority set out in the business plan.” SCC’s Annual General Meeting was held on 25th September 2015. The Annual Report and an overview of the year’s successes and achievements were presented, including the adult, parent and young carer teams, young carer award, carer support team, fundraising and the finance reports and annual accounts. Ian Price, spoke about the challenges facing trustee boards in light of recent national publicity around governance and fundraising. Susanna Jones then spoke about the important job volunteers do for SCC and thanked all staff and volunteers at SCC for their excellent work and commitment over the year. There was special thanks to volunteer Roy Dowling for his exceptional work with our Benefits team. Ian Price concluded the presentation by saying how good it is to reflect on what a great service SCC provides for carers and how important it is to continue to strive to ensure the voice of carers is heard. The election of officers was as follows; Ian Price (Chair), George Rankin (Vice Chair), Linda O’Kane (Company Secretary) and Jan Lewis (Honorary Treasurer, non-trustee capacity). Each year Carers Rights Day brings organisations together to help carers understand their rights and find out how to get the help and support they are entitled to. Carers Rights Day 2015 was on Friday 20th November. The theme was ‘Looking after someone? Know your rights’. The day involved making carers aware of their rights, letting carers know where to get help and support and raising awareness of the needs of carers. There were two workshops discussing how to improve the awareness of services for carers and pressure on services caused by the impact of an ageing population. Presentations were given by SCC, Sue Wald from Swindon Borough Council, Gill May from Swindon Clinical Commissioning Group and Kath Rooksby from NHS England. Justin Tomlinson MP (Swindon North) also led a question and answer session with carers. Our Swindon Young Carers Forum and Chair of Trustees, Ian Price, both received a 2015 Pride of Swindon Award. The awards were to recognise people who have made a great contribution to the Swindon community. They were honoured alongside the other winners during a two hour ceremony, which was sponsored by town companies including the Swindon Advertiser, Intel, Zurich and Nationwide.

“Swindon Carers Centre is a key player in in any carer-related activity across Swindon.” Carers Trust Centre of Excellence Assessor Report “Swindon Carers Centre has demonstrated an impressive commitment to the provision of high quality services to its users. Trustees, staff and volunteers all showed a passion for working with carers and helping them manage their lives. User feedback is very positive. The organisation is well led and managed. Governance is effective and is seen as having improved over the past year reflecting the hard work and development of the Board.” PQASSO Assessor Report

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Working towards Strategic Aims and Priorities: Adult Carer Support The activities that have been undertaken to support adult carers:  Assessment and support for adult and parent carers, including a carers’ Emergency Card scheme  Information to carers about benefits  Opportunities for carers to have a break from caring, including specific activities for older carers  Involvement work for parent and adult carers  Outreach activities to raise awareness of carers’ and their needs and help carers to self-identify  Work with GPs and other health/social care services to improve recognition and good practice regarding carers

“Having had carers counselling sessions, I was advised to make more time for myself, so I put myself forward to do some activities such as these!” Adult carer who attend a flower arranging workshop

The Adult Carer Support team completed 320 carer assessments this year. Additionally, 476 adult carers received personalised information, advice and support from our Carer Support Line. We have increased the range of activities we are able to offer to adult carers to encourage a higher attendance. Feedback from carers prompted us to include more activities where the cared-for person is able to attend in a safe and practical way. These groups include our Open Minds Group, Saturday Socials and afternoon tea and the Dementia Peer Support Group, which has a separate activities room for the cared-for persons while carers have the opportunity for peer support and discussions. To ensure that carers are able to attend our activities, we have been able to arrange some respite care and transport if there are mobility issues to enable the carer to attend their desired activities and get the vital break they need. SCC are also proud to continue our support for carers whose caring role has ended; these individuals are also invited to attend social events for up to 12 months after bereavement. SCC are thankful for the wonderful partnership working with other organisations which allow our activities to take place. These partnerships include, the Citifaith Church and Love Swindon, the Alzheimer’s Society, Willows Counselling Service, Adult Community Learning (Swindon Borough Council) and Horizons at Eldene.

98% of carers reported that their carers assessment met their needs 1,028 attendances at adult carer activities

98% adult carers attending activities said they improved their support and social networks 28.2% increase in the number of adult carer registrations with SCC support and social networks

“It is life changing in a very positive way” “Just knowing that this time and space is regularly available is a tremendous help. It helps me during difficult situations and is in a warm and welcoming environment.” Adult carers who attend meditation classes

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“Thank you for the lovely afternoon on Saturday. We both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves…meeting up with friends and having a chat did us a power of good. The fact that you also provided us with the taxi made reaching the venue so easy for us.” Adult carer

Carers’ plant potting activity

Adult carer Zumba session

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Fema

Open Minds carer support group

Adult carer flower craft session

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“I had a most relaxing and enjoyable evening making a couple of new friends.” Adult carer

Adult carer therapeutic arts session Fem

Adult carer social bowling evening

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Working towards Strategic Aims and Priorities: Parent Carer Support We have also been able to provide more activities for our parent carers this year due to additional grant funding and donations. Parent carer lunches have been organised to provide the opportunity for parents who provide care to meet and socialise with others in similar situations. The initial parent carer lunches had 9 carers attending, however, the latest lunch saw 24 attend, highlighting the need and appeal of such events and their success. Some of the lunches also had guest speakers attend, to talk about specific health conditions and care, for example, Kirk Anderson, Specialist Nurse for Autistic Spectrum Disorders, gave an informative talk which many parents found useful. “We have been going to the meals for parent carers and I just wanted SCC to know how fabulous it is. It's a lovely group and we help each other with advice and support, it’s so much more than a meal. I met one parent carer who was really struggling and after the meal she was empowered to seek help and got her problems sorted within weeks. It a fantastic network as different people know different things so finding out and sharing at this group is great.” A parent carer Activities have also been organised where parent carers, their cared-for children and other family members are able to attend. These events have included craft courses, a picnic at Lydiard Park, our Halloween 'Spooktacular' event and a Christmas Party provided by LOVE Swindon at Citifaith Church. The aim of these events is to give parents a chance to relax and have fun with their family; they have been a fantastic success and something set to continue. "This is the main Christmas party that we go to each year so it is good there is something for them. I also know lots of the other carers here so it is also a good chance for us to socialise as well." A parent carer

“Someone else doing the organising for a change made such a big difference to me!” Parent carer

“It is nice to take my children somewhere different where they won't be judged” Parent carer

“Feeling very supported by Swindon Carers Centre…it’s nice to be able to have things planned and no burden of planning.” Parent carer

Family Christmas party provided by LOVE Swindon

Parent and sibling young carers craft session

91% increase in the number of parent carer registrations with SCC

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Working towards Strategic Aims and Priorities: Young Carer Support The activities that have been undertaken to support young carers included:  Assessment and support for young carers, including a carers’ Emergency Card scheme  Regular group events for young carers assessed as in most need  Holiday activities accessible to all registered young carers  Work with schools and colleges to develop good practice in relation to young carers and continue to deliver the Young Carer Award Our dedicated young carer groups and activities team and volunteers provide term-time groups and holiday activities. Young carers have the chance to meet and make friends with other young carers, take part in activities they are not typically able to and enjoy a break from their very demanding caring roles. Friends of Young Carers annual fundraising enabled young carers to take part in fun and therapeutic activities and residential trips across the whole year, giving them a vital break from their caring role. Without the support of Friends of Young Carers, we would be unable to provide these experiences to the 700 young carers we support. It has been another excellent year for the Young Carer Award, funded by a Big Lottery Fund Reaching Communities Grant, which has continued to help young carers be supported in schools and colleges to ensure they can balance their caring role and school lives. The achievement of the award is recognised by Young Carer Leads in schools as hugely beneficial. One Young Carer Lead described how the Award was used as ‘a toolkit’ within their school that outlined ‘what needed to be done and when’. The Award was seen as a catalyst for implementing good practice and processes within the school. “There are some children we have identified as young carers and because we have a raised awareness of their role, their attendance has improved as a result and therefore their achievement and attainment has improved.” Young Carer Lead and Headteacher, Colebrook Infants Academy. SCC celebrated the work being carried out in schools and colleges across Swindon to support young carers at a special event on July 6th. This was a chance to thank education staff and young carers for all their hard work in implementing the Young Carer Award and celebrate how far they’ve come since the standards were launched in 2011. Young carers also spoke about the positive impact the standards had on them at school and in college.

48 schools and colleges across Swindon are participating in the Young Carer Award 96% of young carers report that groups have provided a break An average of 108 young carers attending groups each quarter 1,543 attendances at young carer groups and holiday activities 48 holiday activities per year 17.6% increase in the number of young carer registrations

100% of young carers who received support felt more able to manage their caring role

“Without your kindness and time, my son would not have been able to access the young carers play group sessions as he was just too nervous to go. I am so grateful that you were willing to take some time with him alone, preparing him to go to the group and supporting him through his first session there. He came home filled with excitement and had had a really lovely time there – something I know would not have been possible without your help.” Parent of a young carer

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“I love every single minute of what I am contributing and achieving and I believe this is to do with working with such lovely people as SCC and feeling passionate towards the work I now do.” College Young Carer Lead

Moredon Nursery and Primary School achieved the Young Carer Award

Young Carer Forum working to engage others

“Some time with people who understand me.” Young carer

“I loved having the freedom for the weekend.”

The Songbirds young carers choir at the Friends of Young Carers charity ball

Young carers on a day trip

Young carers at Roves Farm

Young carers on a Salamander project with Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

Young carer

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Carer Support Team In addition to the groups and activities described on page 6, the team have undertaken the following: This year we supported 402 carers with benefits advice; this included 141 benefits checks, 52 home visits and 82 office appointments. Our regular feedback survey of carers who have used the benefits service revealed 94% found the service useful and 86% reported feeling less worried about their financial situation. We are thankful to Zurich Community Trust whose funding enabled our benefits service to continue. “An older carer, who is caring for her daughter who has severe physical disabilities, came for a benefit check. On the face of it, she and her daughter were receiving all the benefits that they should have been receiving. However, as the carer's health was worsening, our advisor Roy helped her to claim Attendance Allowance. This gave her an extra £55.10 per week, but also both her and her daughter could then get a Severe Disability Premium. This meant the household was £178.80 per week better off in total.” SCC Benefits Service Co-ordinator. The Emergency Card scheme offers carers peace of mind by detailing information about the carer and their cared-for person and what the carer would want to happen if an emergency prevented them from carrying on with their caring responsibilities. On the rare occasions that a carer has had to use their Emergency Card, we have received very positive feedback.

“My husband and I did not realise we were entitled to a Carers Allowance, even though we have been caring for his Dad for five years. You are our lifeline…whenever situations become difficult, we know you are there.” Carer who was supported by Benefits Service

A Hospital and GP Carer Support Practitioner Role was introduced in January 2016. The role was introduced so SCC can work in partnership with other professionals to support carers during the time the cared-for, or the carer themselves, are in hospital and six weeks post-discharge. The role also includes providing bereavement support. The role is based with the hospital discharge teams at Great Western Hospital (GWH). The initial work involved developing relationships and raising awareness of the support SCC can provide by attending Discharge Assessment and Referrals Team and ward ‘white board’ meetings. In the first three months since the role was introduced (January-March 2016), there were 37 referrals for carers to receive our support. Partnership with GP surgeries continues with quarterly GP surgeries Carer Leads meetings to enable sharing of good practice in supporting carers. We have been able to offer important adult carer counselling sessions via a volunteer counsellor. In October 2015, SCC were able to start offering a young carers counselling service, thanks to extremely generous donations from Wrag Barn Golf Club and other donors. We are working in partnership with Nicola Rowe, qualified counsellor from Brightside Counselling, who has extensive experience of working with young people and a particular passion for working with young carers. Nicola is able to see three young carers each week; SCC are delighted to be working with Nicola to support our young carers as this service is one we have wanted to be able to offer for a long time.

197 Emergency Card assessments undertaken 97% of carers using the counselling service felt less stressed and more able to continue in their caring role

“I can’t thank you enough for all you have done, you’ve been there for me when I needed it.” Carer who received support from Hospital and GP Carer Support Outreach Practitioner

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Working towards Strategic Aims: Volunteers SCC has been assisted by many volunteers over the year; most of these volunteered as individuals, others were employee volunteers and two were student placements. There have a been a variety of roles including; assisting with carer groups and activities, completing benefits checks and advice, GP outreach and relationship building, office administration, providing a counselling service, processing carer registrations and providing specialised advice and mentoring.

3,301 volunteer hours

£25,670 estimated value

Volunteers provide fantastic support and many of our events and services could not go ahead without them. The work and knowledge our volunteers provide is invaluable and provides vital help and support to our staff. We have been lucky to receive huge support from volunteers to run our increasing number of parent carer events, especially for large events at Nationwide and LOVE Swindon. Providing lots of volunteer support allows parents and carers to feel at ease, relaxed and access help and assistance when needed. SCC are delighted to continue to work with Zurich Community Trust who support their employees to undertake team challenges. This year, young carers were

“Great weight off my mind as I can now buy in help as and when needed. Wonderful - please tell Roy (SCC volunteer) who filled the form out for us.” Carer who was supported by SCC’s Benefits Service

fortunate enough to receive three Zurich challenges. Since July 2015, these Zurich challenges have benefited a total of 50 young carers within the Swindon area. The main aim is to give young carers a break from their caring responsibilities; the activities the challenge teams run far exceed this outcome and give the young carers so much more. The young carers have had truly unique experiences through attending the trips and activities that the Zurich challenge teams provide, these have included two Christmas parties which were very well attended. These are truly unique and rare opportunities for young carers as the majority of them would not have the opportunity to experience such activities due to their caring role or the difficulties the families would have doing the simplest of activities. Staff from the Nationwide Information Management team have supported us through a skills share project to review our Human Resources data recording, monitoring and reporting processes. This has streamlined the process, improving data recording, reduced duplication, and made the quarterly reporting to Trustees more efficient. They will continue to support other areas of work at SCC in 2016/17. A team of Nationwide volunteers also assist with our media group, Songbirds choir group and Young Carers Forums. Volunteer staff from Intel assisted us with a large project to update our website; details about this fantastic partnership work follow on the next page.

“Thank you for making me feel welcome and giving us a great day out” Parent carer “Everyone was so welcoming. I’m sure more families would love to come next year” Parent carer

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award. Additionally, we were interviewed by BBC Wiltshire Radio to talk about the impact of the Young Carer Award. We were also filmed by St James Place Foundation and Zurich Community Trust to inform the organisations about the impact of their generous giving.

Working towards Strategic Aims: Communications We have a dynamic social media presence, which helps to continually raise the profile of SCC and encourages ‘hidden’ carers to contact us for registration and support. We have strived to increase carer awareness and ensure sustainability of the organisation by continuously improving our profile, reputation and reach.

SCC launched a new website in November 2015 thanks to a very successful volunteer partnership with Intel. Three colleagues in the Intel IT Department; Tony Moglione, Tom Wan and Jerome Crametz, worked collaboratively with SCC to develop the new site which was tested along the way by carer focus groups, SCC staff and Trustees. The professionalism and expertise of the Intel team enabled the website to be relaunched (to include optimal website use on mobile phones) in a short time frame very successfully. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with Intel on this project.

Our newsletter ‘Caring Matters’ is produced every quarter and is distributed to over 3,000 contacts, including carers and stakeholders. This allows us to keep key contacts updated with our latest activities and upcoming events to get involved in. We also maintain regular contact throughout the year via monthly e-bulletins. Our young carers media group also produced two newsletters.

489 Facebook ‘likes’

1,370 Twitter followers

SCC has established a positive relationship with the local media; we were able to have regular articles in the Swindon Advertiser and Link Magazine, showcasing our work to wider audiences and potential partners. This media presence encouraged more schools to engage in the Young Carer Award due to increased awareness and positive publicity of schools engaging with the

Our website hosts personalised information for carers of different ages, information about SCC, our Trustees and partnerships, SCC publications, media releases and reports and regular posts about the latest fundraising and awareness events. SCC continues to build strong relationships with fellow organisations in Sanford House to ensure a joined up approach to supporting carers. We are continually looking towards better partnership working and communication projects within Sanford House.

@swindoncarerscentre

@SwindonCarers

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Working towards Strategic Aims: Development Once again, we have been supported by fantastic partnerships, donors and fundraisers this year. Fundraising activity has included:  Friends of Young Carers annual fundraising ball raised over £30,000, which funded trips and activities for young carers during school holidays  The Zurich Retail team put their feet to the floor as they stepped out on a sponsored 30-mile walk from Cheltenham to Swindon to raise £2,250  ROC UK raised £1,300 at six of their ESSO petrol stations in and around Swindon during Carers Week; the money supported our new young adult carers group  Matt Jones raised £552 from his successful Paris Marathon run Grants awarded to SCC have included:  A grant from TYCO for parent carer activities of £3,500  A £5,000 Carers Trust grant funded activities for young adult carers  Zurich Community Trust funding enabled our vital benefits service to continue and supported our carers and staff with activities and skill shares  Big Lottery grant of £43,000 to support young carers in schools  St James Place Foundation grant of £30,000 to provide a young carers support worker for schools

The Zurich Retail team with their cheque from their sponsored 30 mile walk



Global Make Some Noise gave us a grant of £3,397 to take 16 young carers, who provide a high level of care to parents or siblings with mental ill health conditions, on a much needed residential to PGL

Robin Syzmura, Club Captain from Wrag Barn Golf Club, chose us as his Captain’s Charity of the Year and raised over £7,500 for young carers. This funding will support young carers with counselling sessions and also provide a range of breaks and activities. We were delighted to be joined by both Swindon MPs, Robert Buckland and Justin Tomlinson, carers and staff to celebrate Carers Week and raise awareness for carers and funds for SCC by ‘Walk A Mile’ in Swindon town centre on Saturday 13th June 2015. We raised over £1,300 at our Walk a Mile Event and our quiz night raised a further £275. Members of our 50/50 lottery club also continue to contribute regular funds. SCC offer placements to Undergraduate and Masters social work students from the University of Bath and University of Bristol. These placements last around 70 days and allow students to work directly with young carers whilst completing their academic assignments. Student feedback shows our placements have been a positive experience and meet their needs. Ten students have successfully passed their placements and many are now qualified social workers.

Ross Loveridge (Junior Capt), Phil Robson (Seniors Capt), Robin Szymura (Club Capt), Diana Reeve (Ladies Capt) Wrag Barn Golf Club

Young carers residential trip provided by Global Make Some Noise grant

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Financial Review: Financial Overview Income

Swindon Carers Centre Funds as at March 2016

Financial Overview Expenditure

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Plans for the future: SCC has worked hard this year to achieve the aims and priorities set in its business plan. The implementation of the Care Act 2014 and Children and Families Act 2014 have had far reaching implications for the organisation. The further investment secured to deliver the requirements of the Act will enhance the on-going recognition of carers and the reputation of the organisation. This growth is allowing us to provide more and varied information and support for carers that they so rightly deserve. The coming year will see us continuing to work closely with the local authority and other statutory and voluntary sector organisations to build clear and simple carer assessment processes for carers of all ages and circumstances. It will be imperative that carers are included in the consultation around these changes and SCC will be at the heart of making this happen. We will take the opportunity to review our own processes in line with new requirements and with our ongoing understanding of the opportunities our new premises afford.

being an inclusive and respectful service for all carers, so we are focussing on ensuring our information and support is accessible to everyone. We have reviewed our policies and procedures around equalities and consulted with carers, staff and partners to see how we can improve our accessibility even more. Our aim is to understand the needs of our diverse carer community and adapt our service to meet those needs. We are working hard to engage and support young adult carers and are investigating the viability of a dedicated post in this area. Further partnership working with other voluntary sector providers is essential for the benefit of all service users. We are delighted to have worked with Swindon Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) to secure a skills share project with Nationwide which will support collaborative working within Sanford House. This work gets underway in earnest in the 2016-2017 financial year.

The staff and trustee away day in May 2016 will see the start of our strategy planning for the next 3 years from 2017 onwards. We will then engage with all stakeholders, throughout this process to ensure the increasing needs of carers, and their voice, is at the centre of our strategy. We are undertaking a research project around carer inclusion and diversity, which we will complete by December 2016. At SCC, we pride ourselves in

“It’s nice to know help is only a phone call away.” Adult Carer “The Swindon Carers Centre always help people.” Adult carer

“SCC have been wonderful. When a member of your family is diagnosed with dementia you feel hopeless and very alone, not knowing what to do and who to ask for help. SCC helped us greatly. We can’t speak highly enough of them all.” Adult carer

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Thank you from Swindon Carers Centre to everybody who makes what we do possible. Without your continued support we would be unable to provide our service to unpaid carers in Swindon