IT Officer for London School of Osteopathy and a Carer representative for Maudsley. As you can see, I have many interests shown off my blog. I hope to keep it updated with posts and more things to come soon.
By Matthew McKenzie – Chair, National Ethnic Mental Health Carers Forum
The August meeting of the National Ethnic Mental Health Carer Forum brought together unpaid carers, NHS leaders, healthcare professionals, academic researchers, and voluntary sector advocates from across the country. The session provided a vital space to address race equity, systemic racism, lived experience, and ongoing research into minoritised caring experiences.
Matthew McKenzie opened the meeting by welcoming attendees and reinforcing the core purpose of the national forum. He reflected on how the platform has grown into a crucial space where family carers can directly challenge health structures, influence decision-makers, and learn about national policy developments such as the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF). Matthew acknowledged that while discussions around institutional racism and health inequalities can be heavy and emotional, the forum remains a safe, respectful, and healing space dedicated to driving real, actionable change across the NHS.
By Matthew McKenzie, Co-Facilitator – South West London Mental Health Carers Forum
The South West London Mental Health Carers Forum met again during August 2026, bringing together unpaid carers to share experiences, discuss how the forum is developing and look at ways we can strengthen the voice of carers across South West London.
The forum continues to be a peer-led space shaped by carers themselves. An important message from the August meeting was that this is a group for carers, run with carers and influenced by carers. Members spoke about wanting people who join the forum to feel recognised, valued and able to support one another, rather than the group becoming overly formal or service-led.
The Ealing Carers Online Poetry Group returned in August for another warm and creative evening of poetry, reflection and peer support. Delivered with the support of Ealing Carers Partnership, the group has now been running for two years and continues to provide carers with a welcoming space in which they can express themselves, meet others and take some valuable time away from the pressures of their caring roles.
Carers joined the session for different reasons. Some wanted inspiration to write, while others valued the opportunity to relax, listen and spend time with people who understood the realities of caring. One member described how they often begin an exercise believing they will not be able to write anything, only to be surprised by the words and emotions that emerge.
By Matthew McKenzie – Facilitator of Cancer Caregiver group
It has been a long while since I published a full update from my National Cancer Caregiver Forum. Although I have continued working to raise awareness of unpaid cancer caregiving, this latest meeting reminded me why the forum remains so necessary.
The National Cancer Caregiver Forum provides an online space for people caring for someone affected by cancer, former carers, researchers and organisations interested in improving support. It combines peer support with engagement, research and opportunities to influence cancer services.
Why cancer caregivers still need a voice
I opened the forum by reflecting on the shortage of dedicated groups for unpaid cancer carers. There are many services and support groups for people receiving cancer treatment, as there should be, but far fewer spaces focused specifically on the partners, relatives and friends supporting them.
On Monday 24 August, I facilitated another meeting of the South London Mental Health Carers Forum. The forum brings together unpaid carers and carer representatives from Lewisham, Lambeth, Southwark and Croydon, giving people a space to share experiences, learn about their rights and influence the development of local mental health services.
We welcomed carers with many different experiences, including parents supporting adult children with serious mental illness, autism and substance misuse, as well as people involved in advocacy, peer support, staff training and service development. Some members had been navigating the mental health system for many years, while others were newer to caring and looking for guidance.
Dr Eiluned Pearce, a trainee clinical psychologist and researcher at the University of Oxford, is seeking help recruiting participants for an important study about unpaid carers’ wellbeing.
The study will explore whether attending social and community groups, including carer support groups, clubs and other group activities is associated with improved wellbeing among people supporting someone with a severe mental illness.
This is particularly relevant to what I promote at my site because many unpaid carers rely on peer groups and carer forums for understanding, information and a sense of connection. However, you do not need to attend any kind of group to participate. The researchers need to hear from carers who attend groups and those who do not.
Who can take part?
You may be eligible if you:
Are aged 18 or over
Live in the United Kingdom
Speak English fluently
Provide unpaid emotional or practical support to someone aged 16 or over
Support someone experiencing psychosis, bipolar disorder, an eating disorder, or complex emotional needs/personality disorder
Do not personally experience a severe mental illness
You do not have to describe yourself as a “carer” or “caregiver”. You might consider yourself a relative, partner, parent, sibling or friend who provides essential support.
What does participation involve?
Participants will complete an anonymous online survey lasting approximately 40 minutes. You can take breaks and return to it using the same internet browser, provided it is completed within one week of starting.
Questions will cover your wellbeing and mental health, the support you provide, its impact on you, any groups you attend and some information about your background.
Individual responses will not be shared outside the research team, and IP addresses will not be recorded.
Take part in the study
To read more about the research and access the survey, visit:
Research into carers’ wellbeing remains limited, and it is important that the experiences of people supporting someone with a severe mental illness are properly heard and understood.
My latest poetry video, “Gatekeeping Care,” explores the barriers minority ethnic unpaid carers can face when trying to navigate mental health services.
This is where unwritten rules, complicated medical language and unexplained carer rights can leave people struggling to understand how to obtain support.
Unpaid carers can also have their concerns not taken seriously.
The poem also reflects on what it feels like when decisions are made without carers and their cultural or religious beliefs are overlooked.
Through this poem, I want to raise awareness of why the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) matters to carers and families.
I feel mental health services must listen to carers, communicate clearly and recognise them as equal partners rather than leaving them feeling judged, invisible or powerless.
I am pleased to share a research opportunity from Lara Pope, a Doctoral Clinical Psychology student at the University of Hertfordshire, who is looking to hear from partners of people who have experienced gynaecological cancer.
As someone who campaigns for greater recognition of unpaid carers and those supporting someone affected by cancer, I know that the experiences of partners can sometimes become overshadowed by the understandable focus on the person receiving treatment.
Yet partners can experience considerable emotional, practical and relationship changes of their own.
About the research
“Exploring partners’ experience of gynaecological cancer: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis.”
The research aims to better understand what it is like to be the partner of someone who has experienced gynaecological cancer, including how partners navigate their own needs, relationships, identity and intimacy.
Lara is particularly keen for the research to reach people whose voices can sometimes be less visible in research, including male partners, people from Global Majority communities and LGBTQ+ communities.
Who can take part?
You may be eligible if you:
Are aged 18 or over
Live in the UK
Speak English
Are the partner of someone diagnosed with gynaecological cancer at least 12 months ago
There are some additional eligibility considerations which Lara can discuss with anyone interested in participating.
What does taking part involve?
Participants will take part in an online semi-structured interview, providing an opportunity to talk about their experiences and perspectives as a partner.
The interview will last approximately 45–90 minutes.
Participants can choose either a £20 Love2Shop voucher or have £20 donated to one of three selected cancer charities in recognition of their participation.
The importance of the research
Cancer does not only affect the person receiving the diagnosis.
Partners may find themselves providing emotional support, attending appointments, managing additional responsibilities and trying to support the person they love while also dealing with their own fears and emotions.
Research that listens directly to partners can help improve understanding of these experiences and potentially inform recommendations for services, professionals and organisations supporting families affected by cancer.
Interested in taking part?
Please see the research recruitment poster accompanying this article, including the QR code for further information.
You can also contact the researcher directly:
Lara Pope Doctoral Clinical Psychology Student University of Hertfordshire Email: lp24abe@herts.ac.uk
Black unpaid carers can face significant barriers when trying to access mental health support for themselves or the person they care for.
These difficulties may include long waiting times, financial pressure, cultural stigma, fear of statutory services and a shortage of professionals who understand the effects of racism, racial trauma and culturally specific caring experiences.
In my new video, I examine how misdiagnosis, over-policing and expectations that Black families should simply remain “strong” can create mistrust and discourage carers from asking for help.
Drawing on my perspective as a Black lived-experience carer, I also consider what mental health services can do differently. Genuine improvement requires culturally responsive support, greater representation, safe spaces for carers, accessible community-led services and meaningful partnership with Black carers and families.
PCREF provides an important opportunity to challenge racial inequalities, but its success will depend on whether services listen to lived experience and turn commitments into visible action.
By Matthew McKenzie – Member of Southwark Carers Strategy Working Group
Southwark Council is inviting unpaid carers from Southwark to share their experiences and help shape its review of adult safeguarding services.
The council’s Health, Adult Social Care and Community Safety Scrutiny Commission is examining how safeguarding services can better support adults and their carers while promoting independence, dignity, choice and wellbeing.
The Commission would particularly like to hear carers’ experiences of:
Working with safeguarding and other professionals
Accessing information and support
Being included in safeguarding decisions
Preventing abuse, neglect and other forms of harm
Balancing personal safety with independence and choice
Self-neglect and hoarding
The use of technology
Communication with carers
Supporting someone living with dementia or mental ill health
Caring for an adult child or sibling with a disability
Your experiences could help the Commission identify what is working well, where improvements are needed and how carers can be more effectively recognised and involved.
Complete the carers’ survey
Unpaid carers can share their experiences through Southwark Council’s online Adult Safeguarding Review Carers’ Survey:
The survey is anonymous and will remain open until Friday 11 September 2026.
Join the online carers’ workshop
Southwark Council is also holding an online workshop where carers can discuss their experiences in greater detail.
Join the online carers’ workshop
Southwark Council is also holding an online workshop where carers can discuss their experiences in greater detail.
Date: Thursday 20 August 2026 Time: 12:30 pm Location: Online via Microsoft Teams
To request the Microsoft Teams joining details, please contact Julie Timbrell, Scrutiny Project Manager, at:
Please include “Adult Safeguarding Carers’ Workshop” in the subject line.
For safeguarding and meeting security, the direct Teams link and passcode are not being published on this website.
If you cannot attend the workshop, you can still contribute to the review by completing the anonymous survey.
Confidentiality and use of information
Taking part in the survey or workshop is voluntary.
Notes will be taken during the workshop, but participants’ comments will be anonymised before they are included in reports or presented to councillors. Individual participants will not be identified without their explicit consent.
Survey responses will also be analysed and reported anonymously. Southwark Council is interested in identifying common themes and experiences rather than identifying individual carers.
The information collected will only be used to inform the Adult Safeguarding Review and its recommendations. A report containing the Commission’s findings and recommendations will be published after the review has been completed.
