Crossroads Care Surrey and Phyllis Tuckwell are working in partnership to benefit the local community, providing vital support to Carers in the Farnham area. In celebration of the Club launch, Crossroads Care Surrey held a Carers Tea Party on the 20th June. The Deputy Mayor of Farnham, Councillor John Ward and the Deputy Mayoress of Farnham, Mrs Gillian Ward attended on the day, to officially launch the Club and show their support for the local charities.
Sheila Hargreave, Surrey Adult Clubs & Volunteer Co-ordinator, Crossroads Care Surrey, said “We had a fantastic time celebrating the launch of our Farnham Saturday Club and are very excited to work alongside Phyllis Tuckwell. Not only will the Club give Carers the opportunity to have an extended respite break on a Saturday whilst their loved one enjoys a fun, stimulating social event but it helps Phyllis Tuckwell achieve their aim of making the Hospice more accessible to the local community. They have a beautiful venue and we very much appreciate how welcoming and supportive they have been whilst we have been setting up our group.”
Clodagh Sowton, Director of Patient Services at Phyllis Tuckwell said “We are delighted that Crossroads are using our new Dove Lounge. Our plan has always been to allow other care organisations to use our comfortable and spacious new facilities. The launch event was a great success and has even prompted some Carers to form their own small support group who meet in our coffee lounge.”
The Club launch was Crossroads Care Surrey’s final Carers Week celebration and featured the finale of their Great Crossroads Bake Off. Carers Week is a UK-wide annual awareness campaign which took place from 8th - 14th June 2015. Its aim was to improve the lives of Carers and the people for whom they care by raising awareness of the challenges Carers face and the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK. Winners from previous Bake Offs attended the Club launch to compete to become the Crossroads Star Baker. All guests were invited to taste the cakes and vote for their favourite. The Deputy Mayor, Councilor
John Ward crowned the winning ‘Star Bakers’, Paul Glicker and Imogen Hooker, who were awarded fantastic prizes kindly donated by Guildford Spectrum, Holiday Inn Guildford, Denbies Wine Estate and Lakeland.
Crossroads Care Surrey currently runs 14 Adults Social Clubs across Surrey, for adults with varying disabilities including dementia. The Farnham Saturday Club is held every Saturday 11am-3pm at the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice. All Clubs are available at a low cost to give Carers an extended, affordable break of up to 5 hours. They create a safe and welcoming environment where the person they care for can meet other people in a relaxed, social setting and enjoy meaningful activities which are specially tailored to each individual’s preferences. Attending a
Club can help improve physical, mental and emotional well-being and reduce the sense of isolation that many feel. For more information or to book to attend a Club please contact Sheila Hargreave, email sheila.hargreave@crossroadscaresurrey.org.uk or call 07783 018391.
ENDS
Editor’s notes - Crossroads Care Surrey
There is increasing recognition that society depends heavily upon unpaid carers, or people who look after a family member or friend and who may find themselves on call ‘24/7’ for years on end – a burden that often takes a toll on their own health. Crossroads Care Surrey is committed to supporting as many unpaid Carers as possible. A ‘Carer’ is someone who looks after someone with a long term health condition or a disability. There are currently around 108,000 unpaid Carers in Surrey. This number is rising, with the growth and ageing of the population in Surrey, and with more children with complex disabilities surviving birth and childhood.
Crossroads Care Surrey supports 2,000 families in Surrey at present, supplying trained staff to take over a carer’s responsibility for a few hours each week. This “me-time” contributes to the Carer’s physical and mental well-being, enabling them to have some time to themselves, to meet with friends, participate in leisure activities, go shopping or simply relax. The key factor is that they can spend their time with complete peace of mind, knowing that the Crossroads Care staff member is a trained professional working to a detailed care plan. As of April 1 2012, The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and Crossroads Care merged to form a new Carers charity called ‘Carers Trust’.
Every day 6,000 people will start caring for someone close to them saving the economy £119 billion a year. 3 in 5 people will become an unpaid Carer in their lifetime. A new report published by Carers UK on the 10th September 2014 evidences that 6 out of 10 carers have been pushed to breakpoint. Of these almost half reported they had no choice but to continue caring. 1:9 reported the person they cared for had to be rushed into hospital, emergency care or that social services had to step in to look after them while the carer recovered
Nationally, it is estimated that there are 6 million unpaid carers in The UK. They save the state an enormous amount of money each year. In 2007, a Leeds University study showed that if this unpaid care had to be funded by the state it would cost £87 billion per annum. This was more than the total cost of running the NHS in 2006/7.
For further information please contact Val Levy on 01483 44777 or email her at val.levy@crossroadscaresurrey.org.uk
About Phyllis Tuckwell
Phyllis Tuckwell provides supportive and end of life care for adult patients and families affected by cancer or other serious progressive illnesses (such as heart, lung or neurological disease) in West Surrey and North East Hampshire, an area of 550,000 residents.
Every day we support over 250 patients and relatives in their own homes, in the community, at the Hospice in Farnham and at The Beacon Centre in Guildford, through a mix of medical care, nursing, therapies, counselling, social work and practical support.
The NHS/Government only covers 20% of our costs, which means we have to raise over £15,000 a day to be able to offer all our services, free of charge, to our patients and their families. We therefore rely heavily on the support and generosity of our local community.
