Support and advice for carers in Kensington and Chelsea

Looking after an adult with a disability or health problems can be a tiring and stressful experience. The good news is that you don't need to struggle on alone - there are lots of organisations out there offering support to you as a carer, and you have legal rights which ensure that you will get the help you need.

Our section on Looking After Someone is full of information and advice to help you in your caring role, but on this page we have summarised the main things you need to know if you are a carer in Kensington and Chelsea, including details of the organisations who can offer you help and advice.

Carers Network

The Carers Network is the first point of contact for information, advice and support to help you in your caring role. They provide telephone, one to one and group support, grants and breaks. They also offer home visits.

They also have:

End of Life project supporting carers who are over 65 and caring for someone at the end of their life,

Carers Network contact details

Phone: 020 8960 3033
Email: carers@carers-network.org.uk

Supporting you

If you are providing support to an adult with a disability or health problem you may well be entitled to complete a carer's assessment with your local council. This could pave the way for you to receive a wide range of support which will help you in your caring role.

Go to our page on Requesting a Carer Assessment to find out more.

Carer Personal Budgets

Following a carer's assessment you may be entitled to receive a Carer Personal Budget. This is a sum money which you can use to pay for support and activities which will help you to manage the demands of being a carer.

Sharing your caring role with others can help reduce the pressure on you. The person you are looking after may be entitled to support from the council following an assessment of their support needs.

Alternatively you may want to make your own arrangements.

However you arrange the additional support for the person you look after our following pages may be of particular interest to you:-

Looking after an adult with care needs can take a toll on your finances - perhaps you have had to give up paid employment to carry out your caring role, or are facing additional heating or other costs.

You may find it useful to look at our section on Carer Benefits, and at our bigger section on Money and Legal matters, which provides advice on all kinds of financial issues.

Hestia provide activities and support for carers of people with mental health problems and for all adult carers who care for people living in Kensington and Chelsea. They organise monthly support groups, provide a programme of social activities, and host a carers steering group.
Phone: 020 7221 0052

Kensington and Chelsea Carers Forum meets regularly and gives gives all local carers a chance to have a say on local health and social care issues, and the ability to shape the types of services available locally. Each meeting has a theme or topic chosen by carers with guest speakers often invited to attend.
For more information about the next forum and to book your place, contact Carers Network on tel 020 8960 3033 or by email carers@carers-network.org.uk.

Looking after...

Age UK Kensington and Chelsea has a support group for carers of older people that will provide practical advice and information and promote peer support, meeting monthly for two hours in an accessible venue.
Phone: 020 8969 9105
Email: information@aukc.org.uk

The Admiral Nurses provide information, practical advice and emotional support for people living in Kensington and Chelsea who care for a relative or friend who has dementia.

Equal People supports people with moderate learning disabilities and their carers by providing activities for carers.
Phone: 020 8964 0544
Email: enquiries@equalpeoplemencap.org.uk
Take a look at their leaflet to find out more.

Full of Life Carers Advocacy Service supports carers of adults with learning disabilities.
The service offers:-

Issues relating to Social Services, such as Carer's Assessments, Needs Assessments and Access to Services.
Support with Transition from Children to Adult Services.
Education advice (16plus).
General information and advice relating to benefits and housing.
Form filling (Benefits, grants and applications).
Support attending meetings/reviews.
Complaints (support and advice).
Liaising with services and professionals to access the best support for families.
Provides a quarterly newsletter for parent carers

The service works to ensure that parent carers and their families are at the heart of service development.
Find out more from Carers' Advocate on tel 0208 962 9917 or email advocacy@fulloflifekc.com

The Kensington and Chelsea Mental Health Carers Association provides advocacy for carers of people with mental health problems and a support service for carers. The Association holds monthly evening meetings at Kensington Town Hall often with a speaker.
Phone: 020 8960 3873
Email: kcmhcarers@gmail.com

A Mental Health Carer Support Group for carers of people experiencing mental health problems takes place on the first Wednesday of every month, from 1 - 3pm at Pall Mall Mental Health Centre 150 Barlby Road, London W10 6BS.
Light refreshments are provided.
For more information you can email Jim O'Donnell (tel 07718 668764 / email jim.odonnell@nhs.net) or Nicky Lancaster (tel 07718 668764 / email nicky.lancaster@nhs.net).

As children with disabilities and health problems grow towards adulthood there are special arrangements in place to ensure that they are properly supported in meeting the challenges of adult life.

Our page on Young People In Transition will tell you what to expect, and from there you can find out about the services offered by Kensington and Chelsea to support young adults with disabilities and health problems, and their parents / carers.

The Drug and Alcohol Wellbeing Service run by Turning Point & Blenheim offer advice and support for substance misuse issues for anyone ages 18+.
Contact them by phone or email.
Phone: 0330 303 8080
Email: recoveryandwellbeing@turning-point.co.uk

The Alcohol Service run by CGL offers advice and support for those with issues around alcohol misuse for any one aged 18+ within the 3 boroughs.
GP's, family members, carers and friends, or any other agency such as social services, can refer someone into the service.
They can be contacted by phone or email.
Phone: 0800 014 7440
Email: thealcoholservice.info@cgl.org.uk

CGL have websites for each borough, please click on the links below;

The Family Action Young Carers Service provides practical and emotional support for young carers between the ages of 7 - 17. It provides weekly group and holiday activities and offers one-to-one support.
Phone: 020 8968 0535 or 07783 395890
Email kandc.youngcarers@family-action.org.uk

And you can find out more about support for young carers in our section on Young Carers.

The BME Carers and Families Forum aims to:

share ideas and information
discuss carers' rights and learn about local support and activities available to them
provide an opportunity for training and developing new skills
meet with people in similar situation;
enable carers to gain support from multi-lingual staff and volunteers.

The forum is open to carers or those whose family uses care services, and is free to join for the residents of Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster boroughs.

For more information and to find out when the next forum takes place contact Midaye by phoning on tel 020 8969 7456 email contact@midaye.org.uk.

Your health and well-being

Open Age Time for Me runs a free weekly support and activities group for carers aged 50 and over living in Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster. A diverse programme is organised to provide carers with an opportunity to have some time for themselves, improve their health and well-being, feel less isolated, and make new friends.

For more information, email carerstimeforme@openage.org.uk or call on 020 4516 9976

Taking a short break from your caring role can allow you to recharge your batteries and focus a bit more on yourself.

If the person you look after has completed an assessment with your local council you may be entitled to support in taking a break - take a look at our pages on respite support, and on short breaks to support the carers of people with learning disabilities.

Looking after another adult can be an extremely stressful and emotionally draining experience. Sometimes it can be helpful to talk things over with someone outside of your circle family and friends.

Our page on Emotional Support For Carers gives details of some of the organisations out there who can offer you some emotional support.

And in our section on mental health you can find more information and advice on depression and anxiety.

Supporting someone who has a physical disability and, for example, struggles to stand up and move around independently, can be hazardous if you don't know the right techniques and don't have access to the right kinds of equipment.

Our page on Lifting and Handling gives advice to carers on how to look after someone safely, and on getting help if you have hurt yourself because of your caring role.

Having a demanding caring role does not necessarily mean that you cannot take on paid employment, or return to the education system, and you have legal rights which will support you to do this.

Go to our page on Balancing Caring and Education to find out more.

Looking after someone can put a strain on your health - your opportunities for going out, being active and taking some exercise may be limited. And your health may be affected if you are tired, or if you are having to carry out difficult physical care tasks. And if you are not feeling at your best then the caring role can become even more challenging.

There is information and advice on trying to stay healthy throughout People First, and particularly in our section on Taking Care Of Yourself.

If you want the opportunity to do some gentle, light exercise then our Events calendar is a good page to start.

And our section on Exercise and Sport gives details of local sports and other facilities.

The Westway Sport and Fitness Centre has various special offers for carers in Kensington and Chelsea:-

Free yoga class for carers
Free gym membership for carers (55 places).
Subject to availability - carers get to keep their free membership based on regular attendance - if they stop attending the membership goes to the next person on the waiting list)
Discounted gym membership for carers (£20 per month- carers who are able to afford a membership)

You can contact Warren Albrecht at Westway to find out more - tel 020 8962 5766 / 020 8969 0992 email Warren.albrecht@westway.org.

The CEA Cinema Card allows people with a disability to obtain an additional free ticket so that a carer can go with them to the cinema.

Carers UK is a charity set up to help the millions of people who look after an older, disabled or seriously ill family member or friend. They provide information, advice and support for carers and a YouTube channel with lots of useful advice. Their website also has a discussion forum where people can talk to others who know what they are going through, support each other, and share ideas.

The Independent Age website provides a guide called Caring for someone : How to get the support you need.

The NHS Healthy Ageing and Caring Guides provides information and advice to carers about staying healthy whilst caring and identifies the support available to help carers maintain their health and wellbeing.

Kensington and Chelsea Mind offer information, advice and support for people with mental issues and their carers.

Age UK Kensington and Chelsea offers advice and support to local older people and their carers.

The Citizens Advice Bureau in Kensington and Chelsea offer practical, up-to-date information and advice on a wide range of topics, including; debt, benefits, housing, legal, discrimination, employment, immigration, consumer and other problems.

The government's new Moneyhelper website offers free information and advice on a wide range of financial issues.

The Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA) provide a database of qualified and approved financial advisors who specialise in giving advice on finances in later life, enabling you to plan ahead or to make the most of your money once you reach retirement and older age.

Adfam provides publications and information about carers' groups specifically for carers affected by substance misuse.

Families Anonymous is a world wide fellowship of relatives and friends of people involved in the abuse of mind-altering substances, or with related behavioural problems.