We currently have an exciting opportunity to join our dedicated team of support workers who deliver information, support, and involvement services for young carers of all ages across Falkirk district and Clackmannanshire.
Young Carer Involvement Worker (x2)
Applications for this post will close on Monday 19th August 2024..
You can find out more about this role at our VACANCIES page! Or if you’d like to apply, click below!
The Carers Centre is a growing and forward-thinking organisation with ambition to support an increasing number of children, young people and adults who provide unpaid care for a family member or friend due to disability, illness, addiction, or frailty.
We are currently looking to fill the following role:
Applications for this post will close on Monday 22 July 2024.
You can find out more about this role at our VACANCIES page! Or if you’d like to apply, click below!
A free networking lunch gathering will take place at the Hippodrome Cinema, Bo’ness after the screening of a heartwarming new British documentary about ageing and caring, on Monday 3 June.
The informal event has been planned around the showing of a new film – Much Ado About Dying (cert. 15) – and will be facilitated by members of the teams at Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire Carers’ Centre and Strathcarron Hospice tbc.
The film follows Simon Chambers, who is shooting a film in India when his uncle David calls him with a message of doom: “I think I may be dying.” Simon finds his life drastically interrupted but resolves to try to help his uncle have a good death. What the viewer doesn’t yet know is that David is a total drama queen, a former actor and Shakespeare-lover who has grown old on a diet of attention and applause.
David’s anarchic spirit is unbreakable. He fights with Simon, refusing to go into a care home, insisting on dying in the squalor of his unheated tumble-down house. He can’t remember where he put his false teeth, but he still knows nearly all the lines from his beloved Shakespeare. David’s real life starts to echo King Lear, Shakespeare’s play about an old man who gives away his kingdom and is driven mad with grief, as David starts giving away thousands of pounds to the “hot young carer” who pops in from time to time. Despite seemingly insurmountable domestic challenges, illness, and the dreaded care home, they create an award-winning final performance to send David on his way.
Alison Strauss Arts Development Officer (Film and Media) and Hippodrome programmer said:
“Despite the apparently bleak subject matter this is a lovely and funny film. I was moved to tears by David’s precarious situation but moved to laughter by his fantastically irresistible ‘joie de vivre’. David’s outlook is a real inspiration for us all, and his nephew Simon’s struggles remind us that you don’t have to be perfect to make a difference. I am really pleased that the teams from Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire Carers’ Centre [and Strathcarron Hospice tbc] will be on hand for the lunch afterwards. It will be a friendly and relaxed opportunity for folk to speak amongst themselves about the film – or about anything at all – over a nice sandwich and a cup of tea, and the teams will be able to answer any questions about the services they provide in the area!”
Ami McKnight Support Options for Carers Lead with Falkirk & Clackmannanshire Carers Centre said:
“It is estimated that 3 in 5 of us will, become carers at some point in our lives, and this networking event will be the perfect opportunity to speak with our team and some of our partners about the services we provide to unpaid carers in our community. Falkirk & Clackmannanshire Carers Centre are pleased to work in partnership with the Hippodrome cinema throughout the year by providing unpaid carers with cinema tickets through the Respitality project. Carers interested in accessing cinema tickets, or other local Respitality opportunities, can contact the Short Breaks Team on 01324 611510 or shortbreaks@centralcarers.co.uk.”
Tickets for the special screening at 11 am on Monday 3 June are £5 for the film only, or £7.65 for the film with tea/coffee and cake. All ticket holders are welcome to stay after the film for a complimentary light lunch and informal get-together in the Hippodrome auditorium (12.45 pm – 2 pm).
Much Ado About Dying is screening four times at the Hippodrome Cinema, 10 Hope Steet, Bo’ness EH51 0AA – on Friday 31 May at 4.30 pm, Saturday 1 June at 2.30 pm (captioned for Deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences), Sunday 2 June at 7.30 pm. Adult tickets £8.25 (pre-book) or £8.65 on the door. Concession tickets £6.40 or £6.70 on the door. The final screening of Much Ado About Dying plus networking lunch is on Monday 3 June at 11 am.
To book online see What’s On | Hippodrome (hippodromecinema.co.uk). Bookings can also be made in person at the Hippodrome or by phone 01324 506850.
We are delighted to announce that carers who are registered with us can once again apply for a Forth Valley Carers Card.
The Forth Valley Carers Card is a carer identification card that has been developed by local carers, Carers Centres, NHS Forth Valley and local authorities to ensure that carers are more easily identified by health and social care professionals and recognised and valued as equal partners in care.
To apply, please complete our online application form: form.jotform.com/CentralCarers/carers-card
If you are unable to or require help to complete the form, please call us on 01324 611510 (option 1).
The summer 2024 edition of the Carers Centre’s newsletter has now been sent out to all carers and organisations currently on our mailing list to receive information by post or email. If you haven’t received a copy of the newsletter, you can download the digital version by clicking below.
In this latest edition:
If you’ve missed this edition but would like to sign up to our e-mailing list to receive future newsletters, you can do so here.
The Carers Centre is a growing and forward-thinking organisation with ambition to support an increasing number of children, young people and adults who provide unpaid care for a family member or friend due to disability, illness, addiction, or frailty.
We are currently looking to fill the following roles:
Applications for these posts close on Monday 20 May 2024.
You can find out more about this role at our VACANCIES page! Or if you’d like to apply, click below!
We are delighted to announce that the Independent Living Fund (ILF) has fully re-opened to new applicants.
Applications to the re-opened fund should be submitted by local authority social work departments on behalf of disabled people in Scotland. ILF have issued guidance and information to all local authorities to assist them with this process.
When submitting an application, the local authority will need to make sure that a potential recipient meets the following Access Principles:
All submitted applications will be assessed by ILF Scotland. The maximum award that ILF Scotland is able to pay is £330 per week. Any funding awarded by ILF Scotland will be additional and complementary to the statutory funding provided by a person’s Local Authority.
If you meet the access principles outlined above and would like to consider applying to the fund, you should contact your local authority. You can see the contact details for your local authority on a dedicated website page.
Find out more at ILF’s website.
The Carers Centre will be closed from Friday 29 March 2024 until Monday 1 April 2024 (inclusive), re-opening on Tuesday 2 April 2024. Details of local support and emergency services are available below:
It’s Young Carers Action Day!
Young Carers Action Day (YCAD) raises awareness about young carers (YCs) and young adult carers (YACs), the challenges they face and the support they need. This year’s theme is Fair Futures for Young Carers which will be focussing on why caring should not be a barrier to learning, earning or being able to get on in life – but for many, it is.
Being a young carer shouldn’t be a barrier to a young person’s dreams. It should be a stepping stone to a brighter future. Together, let’s create a future where young carers can dream without limits.
You can find more information and resources on YCAD at Carers.org/YCAD or get involved on social media using the hashtag #YoungCarersActionDay
Final legislation passed in Parliament seals a groundbreaking new right for two million employees with unpaid caring responsibilities to take up to five days of Carer’s Leave.
It sets out the final working details of how employees will be able to request Carer’s Leave from their employer when the law comes into force on 6 April 2024. The regulations set out that employees can take Carer’s Leave in full or half days, or in a whole block of five days, and must give advance notice that is twice the length of time that needs to be taken.
The regulations for the Carer’s Leave Act 2023 make clear that employees in Great Britain with a long-term unpaid caring responsibility for a family member or friend will be able take up to five days of unpaid Carer’s Leave. They will have the same employment protections associated with other forms of family-related leave, such as protection from dismissal as a result of having taken the leave.
Read more at Carers UK’s website.