Category Archives: News

November 2025 Carers News — New Release from A Caring Mind

Welcome to the latest edition of my unpaid carer newsletter for November
This month’s release is full of insights, stories and resources to support carers across the UK.

Read the full newsletter here:
🔗 November Edition of A Caring Mind News

🔥 5 Hot News Stories & Must-Reads in This Issue

1. Carers Rights Day 2025 — What You Need to Know

A clear rundown of carers’ legal rights, financial support, and where to get free advice this year.

Carers Rights Day 2025 – “Know Your Rights, Use Your Rights!” – Carers Trust

It’s Time to Talk Differently about Unpaid Care – Carers Trust

The cost of caring – the impact of caring across carers’ lives

University contributes to national initiative supporting young adult carers

2. New Research on the Mental Health of Unpaid Carers

A powerful new study highlights the emotional and physical toll of long-term caring, plus steps carers can take to protect their wellbeing.

Carers and empowerment in the UK: a critical reflection

Judgements about carer assessments for carers of people with dementia: case vignette study 

3. Tech Support for Carers: Free Tools You Can Use

This month we feature free digital tools and apps that help with scheduling, wellbeing tracking, and managing complex care tasks.

Using TEC to support unpaid or informal carers webinar – Derbyshire Carers

How Technology Helps Carers in 2025 – Apps, AI & Smart Tools Explained

4. The focus on Patient Carer Race Equality Framework

Ethnic and minority carer information and updates

Race equity in mental health: the systemic, legislative change we need

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Healthcare – “NHS Trust launches bold Anti-Racist Action Plan to tackle inequality and discrimination”

Hope, progress, and accountability: Tackling racial inequalities in mental health together – NHS England

An Afternoon with PCREF – Event

Making Time for Black Mental Health: A Black Male Carer’s Reflection

5. Inspirational Reads: Books & Resources That Lift the Spirit

From lived-experience stories to practical guides, we spotlight the best reads for empowering carers during the winter months.

Also in This Issue

  • My brand-new audiobook, The Poetry Book of Mental Health Caring, featuring poems written by unpaid carers across the UK
  • Upcoming events, workshops and support groups
  • Community stories and reflections

Read the full November edition here:
🔗 https://mailchi.mp/f8473b2dac00/carer-news-from-a-caring-mind-12848380

September Monthly Carer & Health News Updates 2024

Here is the latest carer and mental health news for the month of September 2024 by carer activist and author Matthew McKenzie.

SIGN UP TO NEWS SITE HERE

September 2024 Carer and Mental Health news <- Read more news items here.

For the September edition on unpaid caring and mental health we have the following news items.

Carer Videos

  1. End of Life: Difficult questions answered – Carers Talk Episode 10 – Solihull Carers
  2. Addressing Caregiver Stress and Isolation Through Connection – Caregiver Action Network
  3. Stroke Association session – Carers UK
  4. Cross Party Strategy for Unpaid Carers – Wendy Chamberlain
  5. Anna Dixon MP for Shipley speaks in Parliament in the Unpaid Carers debate – 03/09/24

Matthew McKenzie’s Carer YouTube Series

  1. What is Carer Peer Support
  2. How to Make a Complaint as a Carer
  3. What are Coping Skills for Caregivers
  4. Connecting as Carers – You’re Not Alone
  5. How to Register as a Carer
  6. Top 10 Tips for Caring for Someone with mental illness

Latest Carer news items

  1. New initiative to support Sunderland’s carers
  2. Council carers’ consultation event – Croydon
  3. Voices of 380 carers shape new strategy to enhance services in Bath
  4. Celebrate 50 years of Carers Trust Heart of England
  5. ‘Short Breaks’ set to continue to give young people and carers much-needed respite
  6. The road to retirement for unpaid carers
  7. Survey for family carers about accessing research about people with learning disabilities
  8. 1.2 Million Unpaid Carers Across The UK Are Living In Poverty, With 1 In 10 Of All Carers In Deep Poverty
  9. Buckinghamshire Council pilots pioneering digital support for unpaid carers
  10. Warwickshire County Council Supports Young Carers on Youth Mental Health Day
  11. Calling all carers! Let’s Be Heard wants to hear from you

August Monthly Carer & Health News Updates 2024

Here is the latest carer and mental health news for the month of August 2024 by carer activist and author Matthew McKenzie.

SIGN UP TO NEWS SITE HERE

August 2024 Carer and Mental Health news <- Read more news items here.

For the August edition on unpaid caring and mental health we have the following news items.

Carer Videos

  1. Carer Learning Set – Presentation from Liz Carter – Carers Support West Sussex
  2. Unpaid carers in Swindon: their stories – Swindon Carers Centre
  3. Young Adult Carer of the Year: Caleb Tracey – Carers Talk Episode 8 – Solihull Carers
  4. HMRC Errors and Carers Allowance – Wendy Chamberlain
  5. Carers Strategy – Cllr Paul Cole – Sutton Council
  6. Jointly session – Carers UK
  7. Young carers share what they would say to the Prime Minister | General Election 2024 – Carers Trust
  8. Jaycee’s message to the future Prime Minister – Carers UK

Triangle of care news

  1. Triangle of care newsletter – June 2024

New Audiobook release – The Poetry book of Mental Health caring 

This special edition includes poems from unpaid carers across the country.  View more details of the audibook in the link below

The Poetry book of mental health caring: Special Edition

Latest Carer news items

  1. Camden Council launches new plan for unpaid carers
  2. Five-year strategy for unpaid carers across West Northamptonshire to be rolled out
  3. What pushes unpaid carers into poverty?
  4. Encapsulating the tough reality of family caregiving: Lost Memories 
  5. Recognising and supporting carers across our hospitals
  6. Swindon Carers Centre to close at the end of the year
  7. Caring for someone with cancer by Matthew McKenzie
  8. Join our Building Together forum to have your say on shaping adult social care in Worcestershire
  9. City & Hackney Family carers hub opens in Homerton
  10. Four in 10 parent carers have thought about suicide, study finds
  11. ‘I didn’t realise I was a young carer until my late teens — then felt I had to keep it a secret’

Ethnic carer and minority news updates

  1. Carers UK  good practice briefing for supporting Black, Asian and minority ethnic carers
  2. Advancing mental health equalities – PCREF
  3. Black Mental Health Manifesto
  4. Narrowing health inequalities: why the NHS can’t shoulder the burden alone 
  5. UN – fight racism 
  6. A caring community by Matthew McKenzie
  7. Maudsley Anti-Racism Action plan
  8. Statement from the Mayor of London on Londoners standing united against racism and Islamophobia

May Monthly Carer & Health News Updates 2024

Here is the latest carer and mental health news for the month of May 2024 by carer activist and author Matthew McKenzie.

May 2024 Carer and Mental Health news <- Read more news items here.

For the May edition on unpaid caring and mental health we have the following news items.

Carer Videos

  1. Carer Coaching Service Video – Carers Support West Sussex
  2. Carers UK – Step fitness session
  3. Solihull Carers – – Dementia Awareness Week – Carers Talk Episode 7
  4. Kate Garraway Questions Why Ministers Ignored Warnings on Unpaid Carers
  5. ‘I feel completely ignored’: the human impact of respite care costs – Channel 4 News
  6. Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 – Mental Health Support at Dundee Carers Centre

Latest Carer News

  1. What is Carers Week? 
  2. East London NHS Trust – City and Hackney Family, Friends and Carers Hub Officially Opens
  3. Ten years of the Care Act 2014: ‘the right legislation, undermined by a lack of funding’
  4. The British Psychological Society – Trauma and parent carers
  5. We need to break taboo around death, end-of-life carer says
  6. Calls for new Carers Strategy
  7. DWP told to ‘urgently’ improve after carers left owing thousands of pounds
  8. Occupations And Interruptions: A Poetry Workshop For Carers
  9. Caring for the carers!
  10. Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust – Carers Week 10 – 16 June – Putting carers on the map
  11. Richmond council – Carers Week 2024: Putting Carers on the Map
  12. CareFest event for OAPs, disabled and unpaid carers coming to Bishop’s Stortford Library
  13. The need for a new National Carers Strategy 
  14. General Election 2024 – It Shouldn’t Cost To Care – Carers Trust 
  15. NHS Constitution: 10 year review
  16. Caring for People with Psychosis and Schizophrenia 

Ethnic carer and minority news updates

  1. Black Mental Health Workers Alliance Launches Manifesto to Tackle Mental Health Disparities
  2. Facts and figures about racism and mental health
  3. Carers UK  good practice briefing for supporting Black, Asian and minority ethnic carers
    Advancing mental health equalities – PCREF
  4. ‘Stark disparities’: why black mothers are more at risk of perinatal mental illness in England
  5. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health Care: Findings from the KFF Survey of Racism, Discrimination and Health

April Monthly Carer & Health News Updates 2024

Here is the latest carer and mental health news for the month of April 2024 by carer activist and author Matthew McKenzie.

April 2024 Carer and Mental Health news <- Read more news items here.

For the April edition on unpaid caring and mental health we have the following news items.

Carer Videos

  1. Worcestershire Association of Carers – Jointly App
  2. Sutton Carers Centre – Carers Connect Special – Talk with QEF
  3. Solihull Carers –  Sajida Golby shares her experiences – Carers Talk Episode 5
  4. Helen Walker, Chief Executive at Carers UK, on BBC Breakfast 22 April 2024
  5. Care for the Carers (sussex) – A Carer’s Journey
  6. UK Parliament – E-petition debate relating to Carer’s Allowance – Monday 22 April
  7. Matthew McKenzie – World Parkinson’s Day 2024
  8. Thrive at Work – Carers in the workplace Webinar

Latest Carer News

  1. Unpaid leave ‘huge step forward for millions of carers’
  2. DWP should keep targeting benefit fraud gangs – not disabled people and carers, campaigners say
  3. More support for unpaid Carers in Essex
  4. Carers Trust partners with healthcare giant to disclose unpaid carers’ challenges
  5. ADASS partners with Carers Trust and Carers UK to unite practice supporting carers
  6. The financial, physical and emotional toll of being an unpaid carer
  7. Uk Carers Leave Act: A Step Forward, But 70% Say “not Enough”
  8. Lives of young Tameside carers depicted in poetry
  9. Carer’s Allowance overpayments – what you need to know

Carer Research Papers

  1. What works to support carers of older people and older carers? an international evidence map of interventions and outcomes
  2. 11 Creating a responsive hospice Admiral nursing service to improve end of life care for patients living with dementia and their carers
  3. Experiences of support received by carers of people who are involuntarily admitted to hospital under the Mental Health Act: qualitative study of carers’ perspectives

Cancer Awareness updates

  1. Supporting carers: Study protocol of a meta-review of psychosocial interventions for carers of people with cancer 
  2. Dame Deborah James’s family call for national cancer strategy
  3. Skin Cancer Awareness Month: The seven warning signs to look out for and when to seek help from the professionals
  4. Check your poo, it could save your life

Ethnic carer and minority news updates

  1. Addressing Parkinson’s with Black communities in the UK – Parkinsons UK
  2. Black mental health must on the political agenda, new coalition says
  3. Speak Up April: An overview of the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF)
  4. Black Mental Health Manifesto

March Monthly Carer & Health News Updates 2024

Here is the latest carer and mental health news for March 2024 by carer activist and author Matthew McKenzie.

March 2024 Carer and Mental Health news <- Read more news items here.

For the March edition on unpaid caring and mental health we have the following news items.

Carer Videos

  1. This Morning – Kate Garraway Opens Up On Telling Derek’s Story and Fighting For Carer Support | This Morning
  2. Carers in Hertfordshire – MolyFit Exercise
  3. Sutton Carers Centre – This Ol’ Money by Sutton Young Carers
  4. Carers Trust – Young adult carers support in employment | Fair Futures for Young Carers | Young Carers Action Day
  5. The Health Media – CEO of Carers UK: Tackling stigmas, providing support and recognising the important role carers
  6. Carers Whiltshire – Military Carer Awareness Training

Latest Carer News

  1. Carer’s Leave Act 2023: UK carers’ entitlements from 2024 
  2. Young Carers Action Day To Highlight “Fair Futures For Young Carers”
  3. Young Carers Action Day – how to support young carers – Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Trust
  4. ’15 months since he left that room:’ Carers urge support amid Govt push for National Care Service – ITV
  5. New short breaks service available to help unpaid carers in Ealing
  6. The right to an education is fundamental to a Fair Future – it’s time for the Government to level the playing field for young adult carers
  7. Older people receiving social care and their family carers set out the problems they face and how to fund a better system – Age UK

Carer Research Papers

  1. Do people with dementia and carers get what they need? Barriers in social care and carers needs assessments 
  2. Carers and empowerment in the UK: a critical reflection
  3. We care but we’re not carers: perceptions and experiences of social prescribing in a UK national community organisation 

AHPs news updates

  1. British Association of Art Therapists – Spring online Magazine
  2. Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists – Long COVID guidance
  3. A systematic review of dramatherapy interventions used to support adults with psychosis

Cancer Awareness updates

  1. 22 cancer warning signs you need to know with symptoms affecting your mouth, tummy and skin
  2. This is what not to say to someone dealing with cancer – and what to say, instead
  3. Princess of Wales diagnosis leads to increased visits to NHS website
  4. Cancer Experience of Care Recognition Event – 2024

Ethnic carer and minority news updates

  1. ‘We need to tear up the idea of BAME’
  2. Is the Gypsy Traveller community’s ethnic minority status under threat?
  3. Discrimination in NHS: extent of staff bullying revealed
  4. Study finds racism contributes to high suicide rates among Black men
  5. NHS: inequality and incorporation
  6. ‘If you prick me, do I not bleed?’: Antisemitism, racism and group analysis —some thoughts
  7. Racism as a Cause of Depression

February Monthly Carer & Health News Updates 2024

Here is the latest carer and mental health news for February by carer activist and author Matthew McKenzie.

February 2024 Carer and Mental Health news <- Read more news items here.

For the February edition on unpaid caring and mental health we have the following news items.

Carer Videos

  1. Irish in Britian – Carers matter: Thoughtful Thursday
  2. The Carers Challenge 2023: Launched by ADASS President, Beverley Tarka
  3. Carers UK – Tips and guidance for carers on residential care
  4. Channel 4 – ‘Carers are just abandoned’: Demand for council respite care soars as funding squeezed

Latest Carer News

  1. Keep carers in work to save £6bn, Government urged
  2. Hospital discharge and community support latest guidance – DHSC
  3. Lindsey Burrow: Who Cares For Our Carers?
  4. Charities must be ready for delays, risks and ‘manufactured culture wars’ ahead of election
  5. Young carers don’t live in any particular postcode or come from any particular type of family – neither do poets
  6. Esports students at East Sussex college raise funds and awareness for local young carers
  7. Carers Week 2024 is ‘putting carers on the map’
  8. Dorset carers encouraged to get local discount card
  9. Making life better for Carers, how a Carers ID card can help

National Organisation updates

  1. Fair Futures For Young Carers: Young Carers Action Day 2024 Theme – Carers Trust
  2. A carer’s guide to preparedness – Mobilise
  3. Find your local Healthwatch – Healthwatch England
  4. About OneLondon – London Care Record data focus
  5. Social Prescribing Information Sheet for Local Carer Organisations
  6. Join Carers UK as a member
  7. Give feedback on care – CQC

Carer Research Papers

  1. Unpaid Care Policies in the UK policy briefing – Professor Liz Lloyd 
  2. Catching the threads: caregiving in Alzheimer’s disease – Elizabeth Kuipers
  3. A qualitative exploration of the barriers and enablers to supporting informal and familial carers within community pharmacies

AHPs news updates

  1. Swallowing Awareness Day 2024 – RCSLT
  2. Share your views on our Strategic Plan towards 2030 – Gosc
  3. Episode three of our Trauma series – College of Paramedics 
  4. Six allied health professions have come together to launch #PrescribingNow 
  5. Fluid (water and drinks) and hydration – BDA

Cancer Awareness updates

  1. UK cancer treatment falls behind other countries
  2. Ask the expert: Living with lymphoma
  3. Ultra-processed food raises risk of cancer and heart disease, review finds
  4. Factors Associated With Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer Outcomes

January Monthly Carer & Health News Updates 2024

Here is the latest carer and mental health news for January by carer activist and author Matthew McKenzie.

January 2024 Carer and Mental Health news <- read more news items here.

For the January edition on unpaid caring and mental health we have the following news items.

Carer Videos

  1. What are all these assessments? – Carers Support Merton
  2. Barnet Carers Landscape 40sec for social media – Barnet Carers TV
  3. Carers Emergency Card – Worcestershire Association of Carers
  4. AbilityNet digital technology support and information – Carers UK
  5. Know Your Rights As An Unpaid Carer | Carer Aware Project – Carers Trust
  6. Your Circle What is is and how to us it – Gloucestershire Carers Hub

Carer Centre Newsletters  

  1. Barnet Carers Centre
  2. Carers Centre Tower Hamlets 
  3. Bromley Well carers newsletter
  4. Enfield Carers Centre

Latest Carer News

  1. Unpaid carers left ‘deeply hurt’ after respite services suspended
  2. The experiences of carers of faith – Carers UK 
  3. How to manage your finances as an unpaid carer in the UK – The Guardian 
  4. Far greater commitment to unpaid carers needed in 2024
  5. Courageous Kate Garraway has revealed uphill challenges nation’s silent army of carers face: Sarah Todd
  6. Government defines kinship carers
  7. Hospital discharge grant to support unpaid carers still available – Leicestershire County Council
  8. ADASS publish a new roadmap for social care
  9. The experiences of carers of faith – Carers UK 
  10. Project investigates issues faced by young carers

National Organisation updates

  1. Carers Trust responds to closure of West Norfolk Carers
  2. Carers UK – Help and advice
  3. Give feedback on care – CQC
  4. Find your local Healthwatch

Carer Research Papers

  1. Trapped: Experiences of unpaid carers of clinically vulnerable people “shielding” during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic 
  2. Service user and carer involvement in mental health care safety: raising concerns and improving the safety of services

Cancer Awareness updates

  1. London Cancer carer group
  2. Living with and beyond cancer – Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust
  3. Support for Carers – Cancer Care Map
  4. Improving outcomes in cancer care

December Monthly Carer & Health News Updates 2023

Here is the latest carer and mental health news for December by carer activist and author Matthew McKenzie.

December 2023 Carer and Mental Health news <- read more news items here

For the December edition on unpaid caring and mental health we have

Carer Videos

Preventing trips and falls – Carers UK

How to solve a problem like hospital discharge – The Kings Fund

What are all these assessments? – Carers Support Merton

Saul Becker Keynote on Young Caregivers | 2023 Quebec Symposium on Young Carers

The Triangle of Care explained – Carers Trust

Latest Carer News

The Carers Leave Act received Royal Assent and will be enforced in 2024

The new immigration rules will pile more pressure onto unpaid carers – Emily Holzhausen

How can we better support unpaid carers? – Age UK

Carers Championed at Cygnet

NELFT publishes carers report findings as part of PCREF

Young carers across Northants launch new film to have their ‘voices heard’ and to show the reality of daily life

National Organisation updates

Book a coronavirus vaccination if you are a carer

What can we learn from the Can You Tell We Care report? – Carers Trust

Give feedback on care – CQC

Benefit and pension rates 2023 to 2024

Find your local Healthwatch – Healthwatch England

Volunteer with us – Carers UK

Ethnic carer and minority news updates

Carers UK  good practice briefing for supporting Black, Asian and minority ethnic carers

Advancing mental health equalities – PCREF

Ethnic Inequalities in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT)

Racial inequalities in maternity must be addressed

NELFT publishes carers report findings as part of PCREF

Racial trauma has profound mental health consequence – a Black clinical psychologist explains and offers 5 ways to heal

AHPs news updates

Occupational therapy interventions for informal carers and implications for carer support: a systematic review

Physiotherapy in the media – 2023 highlights

Cancer Awareness updates

Looking after someone with cancer

Caring for someone with a terminal illness

Risk of dying from cancer in some poorer districts of England over 70% higher than wealthy districts

Join the London Cancer Community

November Monthly Carer & Health News Updates 2023

Latest carer and mental health news for November by carer activist and author Matthew McKenzie

November 2023 Carer and Mental Health news <- read more news items here

For the November edition on unpaid caring and mental health we have

Carer Videos

Carer’s Leave Act support – Carers UK

Calling For Unpaid Carers Rights – Carers Trust

Carers Rights Day Video – Worcestershire Association of Carers

Latest Carer News

Carers Rights Day – your rights today, tomorrow and in the future – Richmond Council

Carers’ Rights Day 2023 – Government

First parliamentary inquiry into young carers reveals devastating impact on life opportunities

Monthly One Stop Shop for Carers – Kingston Hospital NHS FT

Third of UK carers with poor mental health have thoughts of suicide, survey finds

National Organisation updates

Carers Trust responds to Autumn Statement

Carers Rights Day – Carers UK

Book a coronavirus vaccination if you are a carer

Carers UK responds to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement

Ethnic carer and minority news updates

Lambeth leads the way in the journey towards anti racism in mental health services in England

Black and Asian people find it harder to access NHS mental health services, report finds

Carers UK  good practice briefing for supporting Black, Asian and minority ethnic carers