Sign up to the Carers Charter

Cheshire West and Chester Council is launching a Carers Charter so organisations can sign up to a set of principles and help make sure unpaid carers have access to the same opportunities as everyone else.

A carer can be anybody of any age caring unpaid for a friend or family member who, through illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction, needs additional support.

By signing up to this Charter, organisations will be agreeing that unpaid carers can expect a level of support and engagement from them, such as:

• including carers in the decisions about the person they care for
• ·offering carers the opportunity to provide input and help design services they’re involved in
• empowering carers to have a voice and control about their caring role and get the advocacy and support they and the person they care for need
• making sure carers are informed, respected and included all along their caring journey by health and social care professionals, providers and organisations.

The Carers Charter is being hosted by the Council and people with lived experience have helped shape the project since the start.

Councillor Sheila Little, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, said:

“We have some excellent services in west Cheshire that support unpaid carers and having a Carers Charter that all organisations can sign up to aims to build on this.

“It’s important all unpaid carers have the same opportunities as anyone else in the community and can help shape the services they receive.

“While organisations that currently support unpaid carers might be particularly interested in the Carers Charter, we’re encouraging all organisations to sign up.”

Full details about the Carers Charter

A carer can be anybody of any age caring unpaid for a friend or family member who, through illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction, needs additional support.