Carers Wales calls on council candidates to pledge support for local carers

Dear Editor,

Unpaid carers are going to extraordinary lengths to look after family and friends who need care because of age, illness or disability. From personal care to preparing meals and administering medication, unpaid carers in every city, town and village are indispensable to the lives of vulnerable people and save Wales billions of pounds a year.

Carers Wales is calling on candidates in the council elections on May 5th to pledge to take action to support the local carers in their community. Our research found 80% of carers are having to provide more care than before the pandemic, 60% said their physical health is worse and the vast majority haven’t been able to take any breaks from caring. Services carers rely on have been heavily disrupted, with just 8% of carers in Wales saying day services and care homes for respite have fully reopened.

We’re calling on candidates to pledge to fully re-open Council services for carers as soon as possible and increase the numbers of carers having their support needs assessed and met. Carers are struggling with the increased costs of caring on top of the cost of living crisis, so councils need to provide targeted carers grants to help them manage. And councils need to help carers to continue to access free Covid tests so they can continue to care safely for those vulnerable to the virus.

You can download our full manifesto at carerswales.org

Yours faithfully,

Claire Morgan, Carers Wales Director