Welcome to the February update of my Lewisham BAME carers forum. Out of all the carer forums and peer support groups I run, this one focuses on BAME carer experiences and challenges. The forum although focuses on Lewisham, BAME carers from outside the borough are welcome since there is a lack of BAME carer networking groups, especially BAME carer-led forums. I might even consider changing the name to Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich BAME carer forum since I am very active in Greenwich and the actually BAME carer forum is fairly linked to Bromley, Lewisham & Greenwich Mind via the Community Wellbeing Hub.
For February our speakers were.
Dr Shubulade Smith CBE Psychiatrist from South London & Maudsley.
Dr Shubulade Smith CBE is a British academic and consultant psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. She is a senior lecturer at King’s College, London and Clinical Director at the NCCMH and forensic services at SLaM. Dr Shubulade is a heavy supporter of BAME causes especially due to her field and experiences, so it was an honour to have her engaged with BAME carers.
Danielle Perlman is a senior Project Manager at SLaM NHS trust and is passionate about engaging with the community with the South London listens project. More on that later.
Welcome back to another Blog post from Matthew Mckenzie, unpaid carer over in South London, author, activist on my projects called a caring mind.
This Blog post supports the national carer charity – Carers Trust – Young Carers action day for March 16th 2021, but why is it so important young carers get such recognition or even an event to highlight their caring role?
Basically, Young Carers Action Day is an annual event led by Carers Trust. It raises awareness and calls for action to increase support for young people with caring responsibilities.
To see the video of this blog see below.
For 2021, Young Carers Action day will be about Protecting Young Carers’ Futures and making sure that all young and young adult carers get the support they need to go after their dreams.
As a young carer myself…all those years ago, I never gave it a second thought what future I could possibly have, I just kept doing what I was doing, providing care and support. Now with the strain on how schools, health and social care services, it is now even more important to raise that awareness for young carers and also get young carers involved to tell their story and give them the chance and confidence to campaign on what they want for the future.
When young carers think about their future, they think about developing their skills, about what they want to do in their career, their dreams and aspirations. Caring for those you love or support is an honorable role, but it should not define our future and should not hold people back.
With support from schools, carer centres and those who can help make change. Young carers are encouraged to campaign, make a statement and help raise awareness about young carers, especially in schools. Not everyone in schools or colleges can identify or are even aware of young people who provide unpaid care. We have young carers helping or spending large amounts of time looking after someone, which could be helping to keep that person clean, cooking food and cleaning, advocating and being there for that person. All this takes time and energy and we should recognize the added strain facing young carers…..it should be about action and keeping that awareness going.
Carers trust a national charity focusing on making a better future for carers young and old have a wealth of resources for those especially young carers wanting to campaign.
These being
Creating a Young Carer Skills Journal
Campaign Packs with logos
Young Carers Action Day posters
and even just to find out more information about Young carers action day.
Welcome to february’s Southwark & Lambeth MH carers forum update. This forum is aimed at those who care for someone with a mental illness. The forum gives families and carers a chance to understand the complexities of mental health and social care services.
For February, we had the following speakers who were kind enough to have a chance and engage with carers, even if it ended up as a friendly debate. Although the forum represents Lambeth & Southwark carers, membership is open to many carers outside those boroughs, because I feel carers should network, connect and learn from each other.
The following speakers for February were.
Lee Roach who is the SLaM’s Occupational Therapist and carer lead for Lambeth inpatient wards
Rebecca Martland who is a PhD Researcher and Physio engaging with carers on the High intensity treatment exercise
Sam McGavin & Sophia Stevens from Southwark Council developing Southwark’s carers partnership
Annette Davies who is a carer working towards developing stronger networks to carers including a BAME carer group.
A Caring Mind 