Moray's unpaid carers to be celebrated during Carers' Week.

A celebration of Moray’s unpaid carers will take place next week as part of national Carers' Week, with a theme of ‘Building Carer Friendly Communities’.

The opportunity to recognise the major role these unsung heroes play in providing practical care and emotional support to family and friends is being taken up by the organisations which form Moray’s Carer Service Provider Network (CSPN).

The busy Carers Celebration programme features the launch of Moray’s final draft of the carers’ strategy Carry on Caring whereby carers will have an opportunity to have valuable input.

This will then start six weeks of public consultation as the strategy will be available on the Moray Council website. For more information on this consultation contact involvement@moray.gov.uk

Carers and those they care for are invited to enjoy a free day of entertainment, chat, information and advice – with a buffet lunch thrown in – in the Alexander Graham Bell Centre at Moray College in Elgin on Thursday, June 9 from 9.30am to 2pm.

The Carry on Caring launch will begin the day, which will then move onto fun and games with attendees splitting into teams to take part in a quiz with prizes. They will then have an opportunity to take part in various games, ending the day with a buffet lunch.

The CSPN are also holding a breakfast briefing at the Alexander Graham Bell Centre from 8.30am to 9.30am the same day where local organisations and businesses can drop in for a bacon roll and find out how they can support carers.

Each of the individual organisations that form the CSPN is also marking Carers Week in their own way.

Quarriers are holding various carers’ cafes across Moray, HealthPoint are holding a health and wellbeing advice and information event and Advocacy North East are holding a carers’ advocacy advice and information event. More information on these can be obtained by emailingSDSResidential@moray.gov.uk

Every day 6,000 people in the UK take on new caring responsibilities.

“Becoming a carer can impact significantly on a person’s life”, said Aimee Borzoni, carers’ strategy officer at the Moray Health and Social Care Partnership which facilitates the network.

“It takes time, energy, can leave you isolated and can be costly. It is important people who are already caring and those who are new to caring make sure they are accessing all the practical and emotional support they need to care safely as well as look after themselves.”

For many carers, life is a constant juggling and balancing act and their role can be extremely stressful, leading to health problems of their own.

Recognising the role of carers and supporting them is a national and local priority but many carers still see themselves as simply looking after someone. These ‘hidden’ carers often only become known at times of crisis and are missing out on services to support them.

To help with catering arrangements, places at the Carers Celebration should be booked by calling Moray Council on 01343 567153 or by emailing SDSResidentialcare@moray.gov.uk