BackTilly Rowe
October 25, 2022
Supporting and helping carers is at the heart of what we do at Curam and we’ve long been fans of the amazing work the Care Workers’ Charity does to support carers: one of the most valuable and yet unrecognised workforces in the world.
As we continue to face turbulent times with the cost of living crisis, carers need all the support they can get and the Care Workers’ Charity is doing just that. We’re extremely proud to have signed up their campaign to raise vital funds to allow them to continue their important work providing essential hardship funds, mental health support, training, raising awareness, and advocacy for carers.
What is the Care worker's Charity?
The Care Workers Charity (CWC) was founded in 2009 with the objective of supporting current and former care workers with one-off crisis grants.
In 2020 they raised £3.2million and paid out almost £2million in Covid-19 Emergency Fund grants and over £200k in Crisis Grants to over 3,000 care workers in need.
What is their mission?
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To promote the financial, professional and mental wellbeing of care workers we have a vision with clear goals:
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Beneficiaries: the prompt, compassionate and fair awarding of grants to care workers who need a helping hand
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People: Being a great place to work where people are inspired to do their best for care workers and be the best they can be
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Social care: promoting parity of esteem with health, campaign and raise awareness of social care and provide insight into the issues affecting care workers
The Care Workers Charity is calling upon UK businesses working in the adult social care sector to collectively raise £2.5 million every year for care workers by donating £500 each to support our work – equivalent to supporting one care worker through our support programmes.
Now more than ever, businesses that work in adult social care, are needed to help ensure no care worker faces financial hardship alone.
If one out of ten organisations providing and organising care in the UK supported our campaign with an annual donation of £500, the CWC could raise £2.5 million every year and continue their work as the only safety net which exists for care workers in the UK.
To put this into context:
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£385 could replace a care worker’s washing machine so they have clean clothes for work and life.
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£395 could repair the car that a car worker relies on to get to work.
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£500 could provide one care worker with ten tailored mental health therapy to process chronic stress and trauma.
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£1,550 could help a care worker with the financial burden of laying a loved one to rest.
In what ways does the CWC support their carers?
Crisis grants
One-off payment to support someone experiencing an unforeseen or life changing circumstance, such as bereavement, illness or injury and who has no resources to meet associated costs which could include funeral expenses, moving home, travel to hospital expenses, home repairs.
They provide crisis grants to people have worked in a paid role in the UK’s care sector and are involved in or support the provision of care.
Covid-19 Emergency Fund
Many care workers were launched head-first into the pandemic with inadequate equipment to protect themselves and others. Some suffered a loss of income due to self-isolation because of Covid-19, due to contracting the virus, childcare issues, losing a loved one to Covid-19 just to name a few. The CWC launched the Covid-19 Emergency Fund in March 2020 to provide financial aid to care workers with immediate needs. They have raised over £2million and have paid out almost £2million in grants to care workers in need.
Mental Health Support
The CWC is working towards a more holistic offering for care workers that doesn’t just involve financial aid and part of that progression is the introduction of Mental Health Support. We have now launched our Mental Health Support Programme which will be able to offer care workers struggling with mental health free treatment with qualified therapists.
Check out their website here for more information.
