Looking for help with the cost of caring?

Caring for someone may mean your household has additional costs, or it may be there are things that would help but you just can’t afford them right now. The situation may have changed because of Coronavirus or it may just be time to review what options you have.

Carers have been telling us that having a clear idea about the kind of things that could make a difference, will help you to identify where that support might come from. They tell us the following are worth looking into:

Benefits

If the person you are caring for is in receipt of Attendance Allowance, Personal Independence Payment or Disability Living Allowance at the higher rate (or similar) you may be eligible for Carers Allowance. Complete our speedy Carer's Allowance Checker to find out if you qualify. For a comprehensive benefits check try the Turn2us Benefits Calculator.

Local Council

Your local council is responsible for assessing the needs of the person you are caring for (often called a care assessment) as well as assessing your needs as a carer (a carer's assessment). This may lead to a referral or direct payment that can be used for specific support such as:

• Equipment or alterations to help you care safely

• Equipment or alterations to improve the independence of the person you are caring for

• Emergency care

• Respite care

• Regular care or domestic help

• Access to exercise programmes or support groups

• Other things that will help you to manage the impact of caring

Assessments may be carried out by your council or by you local carers support organisation. Find out who the local council responsible for adult social care is here (it's normally a county council) and look for 'social care' on their website. Some websites are tricky to navigate, if you need help you can complete our mini carer's assessment and we'll get back to you.

Grants and other sources of funding

This web page from Carers Trust is a helpful place to start. It includes organisations that support people with specific disabilities or illnesses, people of different ages and benevolent funds that may be relevant depending on where you work or have worked in the past.

Social Prescribing

It might also be worth checking with your GP practice, some have started offering “Social Prescribing”, though it might be called something else where you live. A local champion can talk to you about what is available in your area that might help you and the people you are caring for to look after your health and wellbeing.

Don’t get stuck!

If sorting these things out feels overwhelming or you don’t know where to start book a 30 minute 1-1 call with me, we can work out some easy first steps (You don’t have to do this on your own)

Let me know how you get on….it helps us to support others like you

We know that what is available can vary depending on where you live, we also know there are some hidden gems that it would be good to share with other carers. Many organisations are experiencing higher demand for their services due to Coronavirus but are continuing to respond to new enquiries. Please do tell me about your experience of any of the above or other ideas that carers could try. Drop me a line: suzanne@mobiliseonline.co.uk