6^th to the 12^{th of} June celebrated Carers Week in the UK. The idea behind this national celebration is to highlight the challenges faced by unpaid carers but to also celebrate their work, their dedication to the people they look after and the sacrifices they make.

The theme of this years Carers Week is ‘Make Caring Visible, Value and Supported.

It is hard to identify exactly how many people identify as unpaid carers in the UK, but according to Carers Week, led by Carers UK this could be in the region of 6.5 million and rising.

During the Covid-9 pandemic, the number of people caring has increased and those that were caring before are taking on more responsibility. Some carers are taking on 50+ hours of caring a week. This is mainly due to a factor of some social care facilities still not opening after the pandemic or having to close their doors for good. Lack of staff in the sector and an increase in the number of people requiring social care against the number of facilities available.

A report brought out for Carers week, has seen some worrying facts with some carers own mental and physical health now declining as a result add this on top to the cost-of-living crisis and it is no wonder the 7 main caring charities has called for urgent change from the government.

One of the changes would be help with food and energy bills ahead of the winter months as well as specific help with their mental health. The report showed that the public are supporting unpaid carers and feel a change is needed with 84% in agreement. Only 3% disagreed.

One person standing up and showing what it is like to be an unpaid care and shine a true light on the struggles in the care industry is new up and coming author Brianne George.

Her recently released book on Kindle titled the ‘Frustrated Carer’ talks about caring from all angles from looking after a loved one in a nursing home, the relative who lives 50 miles away and a big subject on discussion at the moment ‘Where do kids in wheelchairs play?’

The whole book is in easy-to-read rhyming poetry and is based on her own experience of being a carer for her mum, dad and disabled daughter.

The book is available to buy now on kindle or will be available to pre-order as a paperback from her website soon. To be notified when it is available for pre-order, please fill in your details on her website to keep up-to-date. The book is due to be released on the 6^{th of} July.

The follow up book to ‘the Frustrated Carer’, ‘the Frustrated Carer, Frustrated Again’ is already in talks with the marketing company.

To read the full report from Carers Week please visit their website.

Written By: Victoria-Jayne Scholes