Carer Friendly Communities Dorset
On this page
- Lead Organisation
Forward Carers
- Project contact
Rachel Close
Carer Friendly Communities Programme Manager
Forward Carers CIC is an award-winning, not-for-profit, Social Enterprise and has been empowering unpaid Carers to live a good lives since 2014.
We’re on a mission to create Carer Friendly Communities across the country through impactful Carer support, our Carer Friendly ID Card and Carer Friendly Businesses Discount Scheme and Carer Friendly Workplaces programmes. Carer Friendly Communities are places that understand, value, and support unpaid Carers across every interaction in their day.
We are submitting our Carer Friendly programme in Dorset to demonstrate the difference Carer Friendly Communities can make. We are commissioned to provide our Carer Friendly ID Card (physical and digital) for all Carers registered with the local Carers services.
The card includes the Carers’ photo and In Case of Emergency (ICE) contact details, helping Carers feel validated and seen. The card provides access to a good spread of over 140 local offers and discounts across Dorset from our online Wellness Directory, including holistic, therapeutic, fun, discounted and free activities.
We also raise awareness of Carers among all the organisations in the Directory who benefit from our information and free training, while Carers who use their card at these organisations experience friendly, understanding support. New organisations join monthly.
We also support GPs and other NHS services to become Carer Friendly and provide Carer Friendly Employer training and certification, so Carers are supported across all areas of their life and work. 26 GP Surgeries have currently received our Carer Friendly recognition.
- Partners
Our Commissioned Partners are Dorset County Council, Carer Support Dorset, Bournemouth-Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) and CRISP Carer Support. In addition, we are partners in two strategic groups Dorset Carers Partnership Group (DCPG) Pan Dorset Carers Steering Group (PDCSG) working closely with all the partners that attend including social care, NHS, Voluntary sector and Carers Forums.
- Project duration
January 2023 – December 2027
- Key beneficiaries
Our initiative benefits all unpaid Carers of all ages across Dorset and BCP. Through supporting unpaid Carers affectively, the whole community benefits by creating an environment where Carers – an important building block of our communities – can thrive.
Carer Friendly Communities Dorset
Why we started this initiative
Carers are at the heart of everything we do and influence all services and initiatives we provide.
Birmingham Carers told us that they wanted to have a straightforward way to prove they are in a caring role, to be identified if something happened to them and to access places and services that felt welcoming and supportive.
A Carers working group came together to explore solutions, including liaising with local emergency services to understand their protocols. Our Card is designed by Carers, for Carers, and has won a national innovation award. This was the inspiration for the Carer Friendly Communities –ID Card scheme.
Our goals
- For Carers to easily prove they are in a caring role.
- For carers to feel recognised and valued.
- For carers to be able to better maintain their physical, mental health and emotional wellbeing.
- For carers to have better support to be able to continue in their caring role.
- For carers to be able to access a wide range of benefits, both local and national through recognising their role as a Carers.
- To inspire and support local business, organisations, services, and NHS health providers to recognise Carers’ lives and role in our community and to provide supportive places to visit and work.
- For the voice of Carers to be captured by our volunteer Carer Ambassadors.
- To celebrate Carer Friendly Businesses and GP surgeries in our Awards.
How we’re implementing it
We’ve developed a seamless pathway across Dorset so all registered Carers can get our Carer Friendly ID Card.
Through the work, we’ve formed relationships with a wide range of Dorset service partners, Carers Forums and Carers groups.
We support local businesses and organisations to recognise Carers and join our ID Card and Carer Friendly Workplace programme, through discovery sessions, digital and printed information, networking, social media, and signup scheme.
We build relationships with local organisations and business to sign up to join our Wellness Directory, and we promote the Wellness Directory to local Carers through our website, newsletters, and social media.
The card is really useful, not just for using in shops etc, but for one’s own confidence. It is empowering just to have it with me.
Carer
- Listen to the voice of Carers and embed co-production into your plans from the start. Our Card is so successful because it delivers what Carers told us they wanted from it. We adapted our original design when we understood that Carers felt it was important for the card to be photographic ID.
- Understand the local area. We felt it was essential to have local staff on the ground in the area to build relationships, understand the local culture and attend events and partnership activities.
- Think about what challenges businesses are facing and always present the benefit to them as well as to the Carers. Times are tough for businesses but offering a discount and joining our Wellbeing Directory is a great way to promote their organisation and reach a wider customer base.
- Building relationships with GP practices can take time but partnership work is so impactful for Carers. By providing resources and support to the NHS Carer Leads, we helped inspire priority targets being met, and more Carers to identify early.
- Collect feedback: ask Carers and Carer Friendly organisations what is working well and importantly find out if anything is working for them and then act upon it!
I hope Carers will see this as an opportunity to help improve their quality of life as it is so important for them to stay healthy too. Many people don’t realise that the support they provide falls under the legal definition of unpaid Care. This card is all about recognition, support and giving them the opportunity to improve their lives.
Cllr Jane Somper – Portfolio lead for Housing, Adults and Public Health Dorset