Hey there! Welcome to another new blog from unpaid carer Matthew Mckenzie. I have just come back from the Carers UK Conference 2019. As a carer I was inspired on how the event went and felt part of something. I felt part something very big and felt I should write up a couple of my thoughts on this post.

I had shared a panel session at the Carers UK conference and due to limited time, I could not manage to say all what I would have liked, however I felt I got the main messages out there to the audience. I wish this particular blog post carries on my message to other unpaid carers who stumble across this blog post.

This message is to you…fellow carer.

You have been providing care and support for something close, be that you are a new carer, veteran or former unpaid carer. We all share the same aspects. We wish no harm to come to those we support and love. We do what society asks of us and more, we also wish others can learn from what we do and hope they understand the meaning of care and support in the community. We as carers seek to protect our families, friends and loved ones. It is what makes us who we are.

Take away our ability to care and who is there to pick up the pieces? The fear is if carers are unable to carry out their role, the price paid hits the ‘cared for’, it then trickles down to the hard working health professional struggling with ever increasing demand for health services. Social care providers then feel the strain as more need ever dwindling social support. We as a community cannot afford to leave carers isolated and I want to make sure unpaid carers get this message.

As a carer I wear the badge of going though the hard times, wondering if the people I support will make it through a crisis. I have been awake at nights wondering if I have done enough or if I am doing too much. As a carer I have been through periods of anxiety, stress, depression and even anger as I query why at times I have been failed each time another crisis arises.

As carers we must make our voices heard, but it must be together. We all have our own abilities and ways of being noticed. Together through the support of leaders, movers and shapers, us carers can be part of something exciting. It will not be easy, it never is. We as carers can sometimes feel impatient and want that change now, but it might seem out of reach, but we have got to try.

We as unpaid carers must not give up, because from what I have mentioned before, who will pay that price? Will it be you? Will it be the person you care for? Its far too much of a price to pay. So many is depending on us, you might not even think of this, but we must set an example of why caring for those we love is so important. You may not think caring means much, but being there for those we love sets an example to the community, it means we want to protect each other, it means unity, faith and strength to see things through.

Caring sets examples to those who shape the health and social services. It means we want the NHS and social services to support ourselves, our loved ones and families. Caring sets examples to those who are new to the caring journey as they themselves look for us to be peer supporters.

Caring is more and beyond and should be praised as being part of the community. Each time a carer decides to walk away because of a system that cannot or will not identify and support them, ends up failing the community. The price paid will be high.

As a carer I ask you to have faith and be part of something, be part of something. It will be scary at first and you might feel out of place, you might not understand the language of campaigning, making your voice heard or feeling you might fail. You as a carer might feel you might not belong and wish to just be silent and carrying on coping. I say NO to this, no more being silent and coping. Channel what energy you have left, channel that anger away into something constructive! Do not disappear into silence, be noticed. Be proud that you are doing something cherished by society, wear that badge proudly because love and caring are eternal long after humanity has moved on.

Be proud that you are trying to cope, but be part of something bigger and be part of the caring movement.

Bless every one of you carers and just be noticed, it is your right and your destiny.

Thanks for stopping by