Today I attended a Carers' Conference in my borough. It lasted 10am-3pm and I feel totally exhausted - but so much more positive.
It was a fantastic opportunity to join with other carers, help shape local services - and more importantly, find out about all the support groups, social activities and services available to both of us.
I hadn't realised, for example, that I am allowed to access a range of groups and services in neighbouring boroughs, I always thought they were funded for residents in that particular borough. This alone means that there are now another three memory cafes on different days of the week available so I am no longer restricted to one a month which I can rarely attend anyway.
I even found a possible lunch club for my husband, and although I won't be able to attend it regularly myself due to work commitments, I am confident that we'll find a befriender who can take my husband there
I also now have a clearer idea of how to access services and the range of help available. I was surprised to learn that many of these can be done by self-referral rather than having to wait to be referred by professionals.
Much of my ignorance was down to the fact that we are not known about because we do not currently use council services to manage care needs. Everything we do, whether day centre attendance, memory cafes or peer support groups, is in place because I have found them and we finance attendance ourselves.
All that's about to change in a couple of weeks though, because they are setting up a Carers' well being hub which welcomes, supports and signposts carers whether or not they qualify for any Council care services yet.
While I was at the conference I signed up to a scheme offering free swimming to carers of someone with dementia, plus discounts on a wide range of activities at leisure centres. The leisure centres will also be running activities for people with dementia which means I should be able to do my activities while my husband does his
I feel like life is going to get a lot better for both of us rather than the usual routine of just trying to juggle work and caring responsibilities
It was a fantastic opportunity to join with other carers, help shape local services - and more importantly, find out about all the support groups, social activities and services available to both of us.
I hadn't realised, for example, that I am allowed to access a range of groups and services in neighbouring boroughs, I always thought they were funded for residents in that particular borough. This alone means that there are now another three memory cafes on different days of the week available so I am no longer restricted to one a month which I can rarely attend anyway.
I even found a possible lunch club for my husband, and although I won't be able to attend it regularly myself due to work commitments, I am confident that we'll find a befriender who can take my husband there
I also now have a clearer idea of how to access services and the range of help available. I was surprised to learn that many of these can be done by self-referral rather than having to wait to be referred by professionals.
Much of my ignorance was down to the fact that we are not known about because we do not currently use council services to manage care needs. Everything we do, whether day centre attendance, memory cafes or peer support groups, is in place because I have found them and we finance attendance ourselves.
All that's about to change in a couple of weeks though, because they are setting up a Carers' well being hub which welcomes, supports and signposts carers whether or not they qualify for any Council care services yet.
While I was at the conference I signed up to a scheme offering free swimming to carers of someone with dementia, plus discounts on a wide range of activities at leisure centres. The leisure centres will also be running activities for people with dementia which means I should be able to do my activities while my husband does his
I feel like life is going to get a lot better for both of us rather than the usual routine of just trying to juggle work and caring responsibilities