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This report to our members covers activity carried out by Carers UK from 2008 - 2009
Campaigning
The year to March 2009 was another landmark year for carers, dominated by the publication in June 2008 of the government’s National Strategy for Carers. There were some significant gains for carers in the Strategy with over £250 million of new funding but there was widespread disappointment that no changes were made to improve carers’ benefits. In response, we focused our campaigning this year on benefits and social care.
What we achieved…
- Published a report – Carers in Crisis – based on evidence provided by our members on the impact of the recession on carers’ pockets.
- Lobbied successfully for carers to be included in new savings gateway scheme.
- Organised a lobby of Parliament and gave our backing to carer protests in Scotland and London.
- Met with Gordon Brown to discuss benefits problems.
- Secured backing for our Carer Poverty Charter from big charity names including Oxfam, Alzheimer’s Society and Macmillan Cancer Support.
- Joined forces with ten national charities to organise Carers Week with the theme ‘Carers can’t afford to be ill’.
- Launched the Care and Support Alliance to unite charities working for carers and disabled people.
- Major TV and radio coverage on the missing breaks money.
- Worked in partnership with the Daily Mirror on their carers campaign.
- Carers Wales lobbying resulted in Carers Champions in all 22 local councils in Wales and secured a significant pledge from the Welsh Assembly to introduce new laws to improve support for carers.
Advice and information
Carers UK gives direct support to carers through our helpline, branches, website, online forum and publications.
What we achieved…
- Carers Rights Day helped tens of thousands of carers get information about their rights.
- Our take up campaign on Council Tax discount helped carers claim back an average of £1,500 each.
- Our helpline dealt with over 32,000 calls.
- Our expertise secured £24,000 for one family as a result of identifying an error in their benefits.
- We teamed up with Lloydspharmacy to offer free health checks to carers.
- Our online support forum reached a milestone of 60,000 posts made.
Strong voice
Our achievements are won with the support of thousands of carers, supporters and organisations who together put us in touch with over 1 million carers.
What we achieved…
- Our membership is up by 13%.
- Visitors to our website have increased by 30%.
- Our online community of carers offers support to each other 24/7.
- We are reaching hundreds of new carers through online social networks Facebook and Twitter.
What we did with your money
95 pence out of every pound the charity spends goes directly to helping carers. The summarised accounts show the overall financial position of the charity. Our finances are on a stable footing.
Total income for the year was £3m of which £1.7m came as grants from Government, other public bodies and trusts. Our other main incomes streams are legacies, donations and gifts from trusts, businesses and individuals, training fees and membership subscriptions.
Our total expenditure for the year was £3.1m. Around 37% of that expenditure related to policy implementation, 34% to carers' involvement and 21% to campaigning and policy development. The remaining 8% covered fundraising and governance.
The full accounts can be downloaded here.
Looking ahead
Three challenges facing us in the next year or so:
- The Big Care Debate – a once in a lifetime opportunity to shape how care is funded affecting the next generations across all of the UK.
- By June 2010 a general election will have taken place – we’ll be making sure the next government puts carers at the top of its agenda, including radical reform of carers’ benefits. We must keep up the pressure on carers’ benefits and not allow it to be forgotten.
- We must face the recession head on and make sure we are fit as a charity to continue to reach out and give carers a supporting hand in times when they need it more than ever.