Welcome to the June edition of Working & Caring!

This month we marked Carers Week with a number of activities at Signpost, including an online session for carers looking to get back into work or find a new job. You can read more about this event below and catch-up on the recording if you missed it. Carers Week also saw the release of some new research on carers' breaks, 'Breaks or breakdown'. Those of us at Signpost who speak to carers every day weren't surprised to hear that 72% of carers surveyed had not had any breaks during the pandemic (2,850 carers were surveyed). Working carers were similarly affected to those not working: the majority of working carers (55%) said they felt overwhelmed by their caring role, and three quarters (75%) said they felt exhausted as a result of their caring role. 25% of respondents to the survey also said they spent breaks during the pandemic to catch-up on sleep.

At Signpost we're in the process of developing a bookable space at the Heatons Centre for Stockport’s carers to come to, whether it be to relax and watch TV, catch-up on admin or sleep, apply for jobs, read a book or make personal calls. The room will be for carers to enjoy and use as their own. It could also be used in conjunction with our Take A Break service (paid for care provision) if this was preventing you from coming. In order to design the 'Room of Requirement' we've created a short survey here to find how you'd best use it and when you last had a break. You'll read more about the Room of Requirement in Signpost's upcoming Carelink magazine which is due out in the post (or by email) in the next couple of weeks. It also includes an interview with me (!) and an update on the Work With Us project so far.

This month's carers' story (below) comes from Morgan, who is one of over a thousand carers to have registered with us at Signpost this year. Morgan cares for his partner Emily and has written a beautiful piece about their relationship, their daily struggles and his hopes for a post-pandemic world. I'm sure many carers will identify with what he's written.

Best wishes,

Rebecca
Work With Us Co-ordinator