Carers Week recognises and celebrates the contribution that the UK’s 6.4 million carers make looking after, unpaid, an ill, frail or disabled family member or friend.

Carers Week provides an ideal opportunity for local groups and individuals to campaign for change at a local, regional and national level. Whether you are trying to save a local community centre from closing or lobbying government, campaigning and influencing policy is about creating a change. Carers Week is the ideal time to raise issues and concerns about support for unpaid carers.

Caring can be really damaging for carers’ health and well-being. A report published by Carers Week explores the impact that caring has on carers and makes recommendations for the Governments of the UK to take action on carers’ health by:

• Delivering sustainable funding of social care.
• Providing ongoing support and breaks from caring.
• Encouraging GPs to support their patients who are carers by offering them health checks and signposting to services available.

What can you do?

If you want to write to your local MP, AM, MLA or MSP then use the template letter. You can also fill and complete online the letter and email it directly to your local MP, AM, MLA or MSP by clicking here.

If you or your local group want to write to the practice managers of GP surgeries in your local area then use this template letter.

If you are a politician and want to write to your local authority, health and social care trust or clinical commissioning group or health trust then you can also use this template letter.