This Carers Week, Carers UK and the six other charities involved this year are calling for the UK Government to publish a Recovery and Respite Plan for unpaid carers. We ask that you support our campaign by writing to your organisation's local MPs about the campaign, and also by sharing it with carers you are in contact with.
CLICK HERE TO WRITE TO YOUR MP
Millions of people have provided unpaid care to family and friends over the past two and a half years to ensure they were looked after and kept safe. The level of support that carers have provided to family and friends has been staggering, but has often come at great cost to their own health and wellbeing. Although some may feel that the pandemic is over, many carers don’t feel that way – both the legacy of the pandemic, as well as worries about infection, are still present in carers’ lives.
Ahead of this winter, and to ensure carers get the support they need as soon as possible, Government needs to provide more support to unpaid carers to enable them to care safely and well, and to live a life beyond their caring responsibilities. That’s why this Carers Week we are collectively calling for Government to develop a Recovery and Respite Plan for unpaid carers, outlining additional support for carers across a range of areas – including breaks, respite and care services, infection control, identification of carers, financial help, and support to juggle work and care. Doing so would recognise the enormous impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on carers’ lives, as well as the lives of people they care for, and help to mitigate some of the negative impacts that caring can have on carers’ own physical and mental health.
To raise awareness of Carers Week and our campaign, please click the button below and take a couple of minutes to write to your local MPs today. We have provided a template letter and ask that you add your own personal experience of caring to this, before sending it. Please forward any response you receive from your MP to policy@carersuk.org so that we can follow up with them, if you are happy to do so.
CLICK HERE TO WRITE TO YOUR MP 
Please also promote the campaign action on social media using #CarersWeek, and directly share the link to the campaign action with your networks. We suggest using the below message:
This #CarersWeek, Carers UK and the other charities involved are calling for the UK Government to publish a Recovery and Respite Plan for unpaid carers. Please write to your MP today and ask that they support the campaign! ✍️ https://carersuk.e-activist.com/page/105999/action/1?ea.tracking.id=cuk-aff
Thank you in advance for your support. If you have any questions about how to get involved, please contact policy@carersuk.org.
With kind regards,
Emily Holzhausen OBE
Director of Policy and Public Affairs
Carers UK