2015 c a r g e n i r t r s o p p u s – 25 years of elebrate our 25th anniversary year, we are asking As we continue to c you e h w a s v t e n e p v l e a t n a n h e w d t u a nd get booked to join us! Check o up! Welcome to the Spring Edition of the Dundee Carers News! Update from Lucinda on Centre activities and what’s to come! Page 2. 25th Anniversary Celebrations What’s taking place? Page 3. Self-directed Support Providers Fair Come along to our event on 2 May 2015 Page 6. As the early signs of spring are starting to appear it’s often thought of as a time of new beginnings and it feels that way here at the Centre. Our new ground floor space which has had extensive work done over the last few months is nearing completion and we are looking forward to welcoming you over the coming weeks. I also want to say a special thank you to all of you who supported us in securing the funds to make it happen whether you donated or took part in one of our fundraising activities. We have secured funding to develop a number of areas of work this year including building on our Short Breaks Services and continuing to support the implementation of Self-Directed Support. We were also successful in securing Children in Need Funding to ensure we can continue to provide support to young carers. We are planning on marking Self-Directed Support Awareness week in a big way as we come to the end of the first year of implementation. We will be launching a month long marketing campaign in Dundee and Angus leading up to a provider Fair in the Caird Hall on the 2nd of May. Finally our 25th Anniversary celebrations continue with a number of activities for you to get involved in and after watching you all last year I have signed up to do the Abseil this year! We are now well into our special Silver Anniversary celebrations, which were officially launched at our AGM in September 2014. However, the main events are still to come, with a packed year ahead of us that includes our sponsored abseil, and, of course, the grand finale which is our Anniversary Ball. Full details can be found elsewhere in the Dundee Carers News or online via our Facebook page or website. www.facebook.com/dundeecarerscentre www.dundeecarerscentre.org.uk Thanks very much to everyone who has given so generously and supported us towards our £25,000 fundraising target for the year. We really do appreciate your support for the Centre, which helps us to continue providing a wide range of quality services, particularly at a time of ongoing financial insecurity. We’re well on the way towards achieving our target, and we’ll keep you updated on future progress. Please do remember to sign up for our Carers Centre Lottery. It only costs £1 per week, and you could be in with a chance of winning £25,000. 50% of the profits go straight towards the Centre’s work, so it’s well worth getting involved. You can pick up a leaflet at the Centre, or find out more at the following link: www.unitylottery. co.uk/dundee-carers-centre. Good luck! 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS 3 SPARKLE IN SILVER CHARITY BALL This will be our 25th Anniversary celebrations Grand Finale and is one not to be missed! It will be held at the Apex Hotel, Dundee, your ticket includes champagne reception, 3 course dinner, live music by Trilogy & entertainment throughout the evening. Single tickets can be purchased through www.eventbrite.co.uk or a table can be purchased by calling Stacey on 200422 or email stacey.clark@dundeecarerscentre. org.uk CHARITY ABSEIL 2015 In June 2014, fifty brave soul’s abseiled down the University Tower and we raised over £10,000. Help us this year to top that figure and get booked up for 6 June 2015. (Booking form enclosed) BURNS EVENT It was a full house at our Burns Event in January. Carers, professionals, friends and family enjoyed a night of haggis, neeps and tatties and live music from the fabulous Gleahdraich and a lovely solo set from one of our young adult carers. Groups and Events HAPPY FEET WALKING GROUP SNAP HAPPY PHOTOGRAPHY GROUP STRESSBUSTERS STRESS MANAGEMENT GROUP LIFELINE FOR FAMILIES AFFECTED BY ADDICTION 1st Wednesday of the month from 10.30am – 12.30pm 2nd Thursday of the month from 10.30am – 12.30pm 1st Friday of the month from 10.30am – 12.30pm 3rd Friday of the month from 2pm – 4pm For more information please contact indigo on 200422 or email [email protected] CARING FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS DEMENTIA? (Information Group Training) Sessions are held in the Dementia Resource Centre, Alzheimer’s Scotland, 9 Morgan Street, Dundee. They run for 6 weeks consecutively, 1.30pm until 3pm on Mondays (3 times each year). Topics covered include signs & symptoms, effective communication, practical help and support, understanding and managing behaviour. These groups are run in partnership with other agencies, including Dundee Carers Centre, NHS Tayside and Alzheimers Scotland. If you require further details contact Alison on 200422. CARE & SHARE (Formerly Wednesday Carers Group) Come along to our friendly Care & Share information and social group which is held on the last Wednesday of each month in the Central Baptist Church, Ward Road, Dundee. We meet from 10.30am – 12.30pm with coffee/tea and a light sandwich lunch provided. This group is open to all carers and those you care for. It provides an opportunity to try a variety of activities, listen to guest speakers and have the chance to sit and chat. So, come along to the group, no need to book, just drop in and out. For further information contact indigo on 200422 D’CAFÉ (Formerly known as Dementia Café) Do you have dementia or are you caring for someone with dementia? Visit our Broughty Ferry D Café for support, information, carers’ groups and activities. D Café is on the second and last Tuesday of each month at St Aidan’s Centre, 408 Brook Street, Broughty Ferry, DD5 2EB. Drop in between 11am – 1pm, £2 per person, refreshments are available. For further information please contact Nadia Sutherland, Dementia Advisor on 01382 210200 or email [email protected] (D Café is a group for people who can safely attend or bring their own support) MOVING AND HANDLING The Centre offers a free moving & handling awareness session in your own home tailored to your individual needs. This is for you if you; • • • • Provide care for a family member, friend or neighbour with restricted mobility. Need advice & information on your back care. Assist the person you care for to move Are over 18 For further information please contact Sharon Macleod on 200422 or email [email protected] 6 SELF-DIRECTED SUPPORT (SDS) PROVIDERS FAIR We are hosting a Self-directed Support Service Providers Fair on Saturday 2 May 2015, 10am – 4pm at the Caird Hall Dundee, this is to raise awareness about what service provider options are available in the Dundee and Angus localities, so people can make an informed decision to choose the right service for them. The event is open to the general public to browse information stalls held by service providers. The event would be of interest to people with support needs, carers and people who work in the care sector. It also has a wider relevance, as we could all potentially have support needs at some point in our lives. We will keep you posted with updates of the event on our Facebook page and website www.sdsdundeeandangus.org.uk GET STUCK IN Thanks to all our carers who continue to show such commitment to our Carers Voice group. If you’re keen to strengthen the voice of carers and find a meaningful way of getting involved, please do come along to one of our meetings and find out more. As always, the group is open to carers of all ages. This is going to be a really important year for carer representation, with Carers Voice taking a lead role in consultation and involvement. Dundee City Council are currently working on a Joint Strategic Commissioning Statement for Carers, along with partners in health and the voluntary sector. This Statement will set the strategic priorities for the next 5 years in terms of local work with carers. As part of this process, it will be vital to gather the views of as many carers as possible, so keep an eye out for how you can get involved and make your views known. There has also been a lot of consultation work carried out over the past few years, which will also feed into this process and ensure that carers’ needs are met in the best way possible both now and into the future. At the same time, we will be working on the Centre’s own Strategic Plan over the coming year. We will be giving opportunity throughout the year for you to let us know your views on the services we provide and where this could be improved or what we should be doing differently. Last but not least, we’re also still monitoring the progress of the Carers Bill through the Scottish Parliament. The Bill has the potential to achieve significant change for carers in a number of areas when it becomes law, so we’ll keep you up to date with what’s happening along the way. Carers Voice 2015 Dates: • Monday 20 April, 1.30pm-3.30pm with lunch from 12.45pm • Thursday 21 May, 10.00am – 12 noon • Monday 22 June, 1.30pm-3.30pm with lunch from 12.45pm • Thursday 20 August, 10.00am – 12 noon Monday 21 September, 1.30pm – 3.30pm • with lunch from 12.45pm • Thursday 22 October, 10.00am – 12 noon • Monday 23 November, 1.30pm – 3.30pm with lunch from 12.45pm All carers welcome. Please phone Tim on 200422 for more information or feel free to comer along on the day. UPBEET FAMILY GROUP In September last year, The UPBEET project started a new group for carers aged between 15-30 years old who have children as well as a caring role. This group was started to allow young adult carers with children to come together, socialise and have a break from their caring role whilst the kids were playing in the crèche facility. As part of this group we had our first ever UPBEET family Trip to Muddy Boots Farm in October, where the children (and the big kids at heart) had a brilliant day out. We also had a Christmas meal on 17 December at the Shore to allow parents a short break and some time to chill out before a busy festive period! We hope to run this group once every month and will have many more activities for this group in 2015, so if you have any ideas for activities or training that you would like please let us know. The group is open to any of our young adult carers who have children, so if you would like to get involved please get in touch. Here are some pictures of the fun times we have had with this group so far… CLOSURE OF THE INDEPENDENT LIVING FUND (ILF) The UK Government made a decision on 6th March 2014, to close the Independent Living Fund (ILF) on 30th June 2015. The UK ILF is working with the Scottish Government to look at how users in Scotland will be supported in the future. The Scottish Government has said that they will protect current users’ current awards in Scotland as long as they remain eligible. They will develop a national system along with voluntary organisations to existing users from 1 July 2015. IT’S ALL ABOUT ‘THE BREAK’ The Scottish Government has been working with the ILF in Nottingham, Self-directed Support Scotland and other voluntary organisations (including Dundee Carers Centre) on transferring all Scottish ILF users to the new arrangements. A project board has been set up to make sure everything needed to make this happen smoothly will be in place. Local people, who use Mental Health Services, and their unpaid carers, have shared their views about their needs for Short Break supports. Because of what people have said, a number of organisations in Dundee have come together to design new short breaks to meet the needs of adults who need substantial care and support. Funding has been secured to look at new ways to provide short breaks/respite which will meet the needs of people who have no unpaid care as well as people who have unpaid carers. New users will be able to apply for ILF using £5 million of new funds from the Scottish Government. Whilst the project board will mainly be working on the transition for existing users, it will also support some early work around forming the fund for new users of the Scottish ILF. The organisations involved believe that the best way to develop the right services and supports is to involve the people who could benefit from them. We need people to give us their views and would be happy to look at the best way for you to do this. We will be having an information session about this on the 20 May 2015, please contact the Centre if you would like to attend. CARERS CONFERENCE The Dundee Carers Strategic partnership has organised a conference to take place on the 27 May 2015. The conference will provide information about carers views, local and national drivers, good practice as well as supporting the development of the strategic commissioning plan. Please call the Centre for further information or to book up. If you are a carer and would like to speak at the event please contact Lucinda on 200422. If you wish to attend please contact Jen Moir on 200422 or email [email protected] ormed of any We will keep you inf r Facebook developments on ou bsite we page and also our g .or nts me www directpay The PSP are waiting to hear from you before deciding how this will be done. Some people may want to agree to be part of an ongoing reference group; some may prefer special one off events like focus groups with set questions or informal discussion groups; while others might want to give their opinion over the phone or through an online survey. If you use mental health services or you give unpaid care or support for someone who does, get in touch with Lynsey McCallum at Dundee Voluntary Action to help us get it right together. Alternatively we will be holding a focus group at the Centre for carers and the people they care for on the 15 of April at 2pm at the Centre. If you wish to attend please phone the Centre to book a place. [email protected] Dundee Voluntary Action Number Ten, 10 Constitution Road, Dundee, DD1 1LL Phone: 01382 305743. We have now launched ourselves on Twitter! Follow @Dundee_Carers to get updates on what is happening at the Centre and also what is happening locally and nationally, in regard to carers and disabled people You can also still get all the latest news and updates through our Facebook page www.facebook.com/dundeecarerscentre DATES FOR YOUR DIARY - 2015 2 May 2015 6 June 2015 10 June Self-directed Support (SDS) Charity Abseil Day – Pampering Day Providers Event, Caird Hall, University of Dundee Tower Dundee Building 8-14 June 2015 Carers Week MAKING DONATIONS: Our services are free, but carers often ask how they can make donations. If you would like to make a donation, please send cheques made payable to DCICA, or go to justgiving.com/DCICA/donate. Disclaimer: The views expressed in Dundee Carers News do not necessarily reflect those of Dundee Carers Centre. Dundee Carers News is printed on paper from environmentally managed forests, when you have finished with your copy, please pass it on to someone else or recycle it. If you would prefer an audio version of the Digest, please contact the Centre and we will send you a CD. You can also download a large print word version from our website www.dundeecarerscentre.org.uk If you would prefer to have Dundee Carers News emailed to you - complete the form below with your email address on. We are a Registered Charity, Scottish Charity Number SC024115, Company Number SC160754. To help us keep our database up to date, please complete the form below, if you have had a change in your circumstances, and return to our FREEPOST address: Dundee Carers Centre, FREEPOST SCO 5751, Dundee, DD1 9XE if we don’t have your details right.
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