National Carers Week is just round the corner on 11th – 17th June. This is a big week for our Charity of the Year: Carers of West Lothian. Carers are incredibly selfless people who give their time and effort to help someone they love who can’t function fully by themselves. When you care for someone else, it’s very easy to forget to take care of yourself. Carers of West Lothian work to help lighten the load on carers of all ages, to help them take care of themselves while they take care of others.
The theme of Carers Week 2018 is ‘Healthy and Connected’. The aim is to encourage carers to not ignore their own well-being and to encourage communities to be supportive of them.
You may not know a carer yourself, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help the cause. There are many ways that you can get involved with raising awareness this Carers Week – here are some ideas for you to think about:
This is a nice easy place to start. Social media platforms are perfectly designed for spreading information far and wide with minimal effort. Link to an article, post a picture or if you know a carer yourself maybe you can share their story!
Don’t forget to use #CarersWeek to join the buzz and follow @CarersWeek. If, like us, you are based in West Lothian then you can tag @CarersWL. If you aren’t, have a search for you own local Carers charity and involve them in the conversation.
Holding an event is a great way to get public exposure for a cause. This is something you can get creative with. Have a fancy dress day at work, organise a charity sports match, host a quiz. If it brings people together to raise awareness and some money, it’s a good idea! Fitwise are holding a bake sale at Blackburn House for our staff and neighbours.
Really you can do whatever you want as long as you remember to link it to Carers Week.
This is something you can do by yourself or in a group. If it’s a physical challenge you’re after, there’s no end to the possibilities. Run, cycle, swim, climb or if you’re feeling really ambitious, you can attempt an obscure world record!
We are doing something a little different this year – the Balloon Care challenge! We’re each getting tied to a balloon and trying to last the whole week without popping it. This is our way of raising awareness to our own staff the difficulties in going about your daily life whilst caring for someone (or in our case, something) else. Watch this space to find out how we got on.
Sometimes the most effective way to spread the word is doing just that: spreading the word. Talk to colleagues, friends, neighbours – anyone that will listen! Tell them why Carers Week is a cause worth getting behind. If you can, slap up a poster at work – you can download one from the Carers Week website along with other promo materials.
If you or your company want to get involved, visit the Carers Week website and add your pledge to the wall. Don’t forget to visit Carers of West Lothianto see how their work is positively affecting local carers.
