The Short Breaks Scheme is helping to take the stress out of everyday struggles and giving back a few hours of normality.
Almost 250 unpaid carers across the Bridgend County Borough enjoyed a short break and benefited from the additional support and advice offered by TuVida Bridgend Carers Wellbeing Service.
TuVida is a charitable organisation that supports unpaid carers and the people they care for, at home and in the community. They support unpaid carers in South Wales through several organisations, including Bridgend Carers Wellbeing service.
Through their Short Breaks project, ‘The Carers Breaks’, Bridgend Carers Wellbeing Service enabled unpaid carers to enjoy overnight and weekend breaks, day trips, subscriptions and memberships. Applicants were also offered extra guidance and assistance with their caring role, including assessments and referrals to statutory services.
“It’s made a big difference to my son and I, not just because it’s enabled us to have a trip away together but also that there is some recognition of how challenging our lives are and that there are people who care, understand and want to support us.”
Bridgend Carers Wellbeing Service had a dedicated allocation to support male carers to increase their engagement in the scheme. Funding was used to pay for subscriptions to streaming services and gym memberships, theatre breaks, trips for the family and cared-for to a caravan park and even a day trip for a carer to watch his favourite football team play a match in Essex.
Two group activities were supported to enable male carers in a local men’s mental health support group to go bowling. Funding was also awarded to male carers to raise funds for, and complete the Three Peaks Challenge! One young carer enjoyed a trip to Chessington Zoo and another young carer is looking forward to a round of golf, as his mum explains,
It’s an opportunity for him to switch off and enjoy a break, he’s absolutely thrilled and looking forward to a few games of golf.
Bridgend Carers Wellbeing Service tells us, “Delivering the Short Breaks grants allowed us to identify hidden carers. These carers then not only received support for time-out from their caring role but were also offered ongoing wellbeing support via the Bridgend Carers Wellbeing service. This has allowed carers to access other services including referrals into Bridgend Early Intervention teams for statutory carers assessments.”
One carer who not only had a much-needed break, also gained access to the wider support they obviously needed:
Sian* is a full-time unpaid carer to her youngest daughter who has selective mutism and hypermobility joint disorder, and her wife who has long covid and suffers from breathing difficulties and extreme exhaustion. Sian, who is bipolar, has started suffering with anxiety around the logistics of going out into the community with her wife. She has to plan all their trips out in great detail, including where the nearest parking is, where the elevators are, the distance from the car to the point of interest; everything she used to take for granted before her wife became ill.
Her wife was a very active and capable person, but now even mundane tasks are a struggle, such as bending down to put laundry in the washing machine. As a result, Sian has taken on all the household chores and majority of the caring role for their daughter, and feels emotionally drained.
Sian applied for the Short Breaks grant, requesting a weekend stay in Bluestone Resort, Wales, for her and her wife. Sian shared that she wanted time away without ‘worrying about everything and everyone’ and acknowledged that taking time out from her caring role would invigorate her feelings towards it. Critically, Sian wanted time alone with her wife to be together - but not in a carer/cared-for capacity.
After receiving Sian’s application, Bridgend Carers Wellbeing Service contacted her for an initial ‘What Matters’ conversation, where her caring role was discussed in more detail. This meeting covered a wide variety of things to further support Sian, from understanding the benefits of a carers assessment, to sign-posting to bipolar support groups. They also gave her information about legal aid and the Carers UK contingency planning tool, ‘My Back Up’, and posted a letter confirming her caring role to her GP surgery.
Sian says, “We have just come back from our break in Bluestone. The cottage was lovely, the spa was much needed and it was so nice to go away and completely chill out together. It was a perfect location as we had the spa, cafe, restaurant, pub and shops right on the doorstep.
With my wife’s long covid, it meant we could go out without the worry of her not being up to the walk or having any distance to travel. It really took the stress out of everyday struggles and gave us some normality that we haven’t had for a long time.
* carer's name has been changed to protect privacy