This evening, Carers Rights Day 2017 was launched by the Member of Parliament for Eastleigh, Mims Davies, together with CarersUK, Ministers and supporter Sainsbury’s.
Commenting afterwards Mims said:
“In Parliament you can highlight many issues, and soon after being elected, I chose to lead a debate in which I spoke about an unsung army of heroes across the UK, and asked what we would do if these people dropped their responsibilities for just one day. This unsung army are, of course, our 6.5 million carers in the UK.”
“Most people will be a carer at some point in their lives, and it is vital that society recognises that. For my part I am pleased to have been able to visit caring organisations in Eastleigh last year, and will shortly be visiting caring organisations in Hedge End.”
“I was delighted to support those carers once again last week, and would like to thank Sainsbury’s who have both supported this event, but moreover support their staff with their caring responsibilities through flexible working.”
“Testament to the importance of this event came in the form of speeches from not one but two Ministers, both recognising the amount of work still to do to better support our carers, but reiterating this Governments absolute commitment to that task.”
There are around 6.5 million carers in the UK, and this figure is only set to increase as the years go by, with an estimated 9 million carers by 2035.
58% of those carers are women, and 42% are men, with 1 million looking after more than one person.
It is understood that carers save the economy £132 billion per year, an average of £19,336 per carer.
The theme for this year’s Carers Rights Day is “Make Connections. Get Support” and will see hundreds of local groups all over the UK will be running events, including advice fairs, information stalls, coffee mornings and pamper sessions for carers.