invitation to discussion with hourglass

A conversation with Hourglass Scotland

Supporting older people in our communities

Join the conversation to share your experiences to help promote safer ageing across Scotland.

We will welcome Colin Scott, Community Response Co-ordinator from Hourglass, a charity dedicated to preventing harm, abuse and exploitation of older people across the UK. With more than 25 years’ experience and expertise, Hourglass’ mission is to listen, advise and support vulnerable older people and all those affected throughout the UK.

In Scotland, Hourglass also campaign for policy and legislative change to improve protections for older people, working with the Scottish Government and other partners to promote safer ageing and reduce abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.

Colin will talk about the services and supports they provide to protect older people. Every Falkirk unpaid carer is welcome to attend. Regardless of your age or caring role, your insights, experiences, and views can help create a richer and more meaningful discussion for everyone. 

Please register by 1 pm on Tuesday 4 August; however, if you require a translator, please let us know at least 2 weeks in advance.

Details:
📅 Thursday 6 August 2026
⏰ From 10 am to 12 noon
📍 In person only at the Falkirk and Clackmannanshire Carers Centre or via Zoom
respitality logo

Respitality Initiative

Local businesses are making a difference in Falkirk and Clackmannanshire.

Support carers in your community by doing what you do best and reap the benefits.

What is Respitality?

Respitality is a Scottish Government supported social tourism initiative that creates opportunities for carers to take energising and short breaks from their caring role. While for many of us, making new memories is a natural part of life, without Respitality many carers may not be able to do so. They often don’t get the chance to take a break from their caring role.

As one of the approved delivery partners, we connect carers with local businesses who are willing to donate a break free of charge. This is a fantastic opportunity for businesses to practice social responsibility and give back to their communities. 

How does your business benefit?

Brand and marketing benefits

  • Improved public relations: 

Charitable donations will lead to positive media coverage, enhancing a company’s public image. 

  • Customer attraction: 

Some consumers favour businesses that donate to charity. Standing out from the competition may lead to potential new customer acquisition and increased sales. 

  • Brand storytelling: 

Donations provide companies with positive stories to share with customers, employees, and investors, giving you a powerful marketing tool. 

Employee and community benefits

  • Higher employee morale: 

Supporting charitable causes can increase employee pride, leading to higher morale, better retention, and a stronger sense of purpose. 

  • Stronger community relations: 

Supporting local charities builds a stronger, more resilient community, which can, in turn, benefit the business’s own long-term success. 

What can you donate?

  1. Restaurants:

By donating, you’re serving more than food. You will be serving appreciation to those who care for others every single day.

Donation Suggestions:

  • Donate a meal out once per week/once per month for a carer and companion.
  • Create a ‘Carers Table’ special night once per month.
  • Community support for example matching donations/pay it forward for customers.
  1. Cafes:

Give carers some breathing space. Donate a cup of coffee, a cake, or a spot of lunch to someone who tirelessly cares for others.

Donation Suggestions:

  • Donate a set number of free drinks/snacks per month.
  • Offer a pay-if-forward scheme.
  • Coffee for Carers Day once per month (free coffee for any carers accessing the café on a specific day)
  1. Spas

Well-being starts with rest. Help us to support the hidden heroes of unpaid carers in our communities.

Donation Suggestions:

  • Donate a set number of vouchers (all booked by Centre staff) i.e. massages, facials, manicures, mini-treatments, spa access.
  • Host a ‘Carer Wellness Day’ with a taster session
  • Create care boxes with spa products/samples for those carers who cannot leave their cared-for person.
  1. Health & Beauty Providers:

Unpaid carers rarely get time for themselves. Your skills can give them back their confidence and provide a moment that is just for them.

Donation Suggestions:

  • Donate a free treatment slot once per month (haircut, nails, massage, etc.)
  • Create a ‘carer chair’ – one slot per week reserved for a free carer service
  • Offer at-home treatments for carers who cannot travel/leave the cared-for person
  • Provide small self-care kits
  1. Gyms:

Carers give their strength to others every day. Your gym can help them rebuild their own.

Donation Options:

  • Free day passes or week trials
  • Free memberships
  • Reserved spots in classes i.e. yoga, pilates, Zumba, etc.
  • 1:1 PT or wellness consults monthly
  • Online coaching or classes access
  • Challenge members to sponsor carer memberships through donations etc.
  • Host fitness events to raise awareness and funds for memberships etc.
  1. Leisure Activities

Carers give their families everything, but your business can give them the gift of time together.

Donation Options:

  • Donate family passes (cinema, bowling, play centres, trampoline parks)
  • Provide a monthly ‘carer family slot’
  • Run special carer days/events
  • Donate experiences (escape rooms, adventure parks, museums, zoos)

Your business is not on this list, but you’d like to give? Fantastic, we’d love to hear from you! Fill out this form, and we’ll be in touch.

What you get in return from us:

Partner with us and we’ll spotlight your business that gives back to carers.

  • You’ll get tagged in our social media posts (Respitality join date celebration, case studies), thank you shoutouts for free PR etc.
  • You’ll be mentioned in local press releases
  • You’ll receive a certificate and decals to use to showcase your support.
  • You’ll be added to our ‘Wall of Thanks’ on our website

Join today and make a carers day!

To find out more, please fill in this form now, and one of our team will be in touch: https://form.jotform.com/CentralCarers/respitality-business-eoi

 

invitation to information session for those working in the Falkirk district

Information Session for Professionals

Would you recognise an unpaid carer?

Come along to network and learn about what we do, how you can identify and signpost unpaid carers for support!

If you know any other professionals who work with carers, please let them know about this opportunity. This session will give professionals an overview of what we do at the Carers Centre and how we can work together to support the carers they work with.

✅ Learn how we support unpaid carers
✅ Meet our teams and learn what they all do
✅ Connect with other professionals
✅ Gain practical insights into the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016, Adult Carer Support Plans and Young Carer Statements, the hospital discharge process involving the carer, and more!

Let’s work together to support carers in our community!

📅 Thursday 30 July
⏰ From 10.30 am to 12.30 pm
📍 Carers Centre, 1a Bank Street or via Zoom

Register for the event here! 

⁉️  Alternatively, if you can’t make this one and you’d like to be informed about upcoming sessions via emails, please register your interest here.

invitation to consultation with the University of the West of Scotland

Consultation with the University of the West of Scotland

Unpaid Carers Research Focus Group

Join us to discuss findings and influence future support and policy. 

If you care for someone affected by alcohol and/or drug use, this research may be of interest to you. April Shaw and Greig Inglis, lecturers from the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), will be joining us to present their initial findings from the research titled ‘Behind the Scenes: Understanding the role of unpaid carers looking after people affected by alcohol and other drug use.’

They will be seeking your insights on whether the presented findings accurately reflect people’s experiences and whether there’s anything missing from this research.

More information about the research:

Carers Trust, Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs (SFAD), and the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) have carried out interviews with people who provide unpaid care to someone affected by alcohol and/or drug use. The primary aims of this work are to:
1. Understand the lived experiences of carers who care for a person with substance use problems in Scotland.
2. Inform the development of supports and interventions as well as local and national policy and practice.

The recommendations are aimed at local and national policy makers and organisations involved in developing and delivering services to carers (paid/unpaid) and/or to people affected by drug/alcohol use.

The work is funded by Oxfam and UWS. Notes will be taken during the discussion, but no personal information will be recorded. If you would like more information, contact april.shaw@uws.ac.uk or greig.inglis@uws.ac.uk.

Please register by 1 pm on Tuesday 28 July; however, if you require a translator, please let us know at least 2 weeks in advance.

Details:
📅 Friday 31 July 2026
⏰ From 10 am to 12 noon
📍 In person only at the Falkirk and Clackmannanshire Carers Centre
invitation to carers' voice

July Falkirk Carers’ Voice

Falkirk Carers, you’re invited!

Learn about support, share your experiences and have your say. 

We will welcome Donald Johnstone, Community Safety Advocate with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and Heidi Anderson, Deputy CEO at Dial-a-Journey. They will talk about the service and support available from these organisations.

Meeting details:
📅 Monday 27 July 2026
⏰ From 10 am to 12 noon
📍 At the Carers Centre in Falkirk or via Zoom

Register for the event here by 1pm on Thursday 23 July: https://form.jotform.com/CentralCarers/falkirk-carers-voice
Or get in touch with Sharlene Ramage, our Carer Participation Development Worker: sharleneramage@centralcarers.co.uk

⁉️ Did you know that you can read the previous meeting minutes on our website? Go to https://centralcarers.org/information/publications/

Invitation to Dementia Consultation

Consultation: Dementia – Services and Support

We are inviting Falkirk carers who care for someone with a dementia diagnosis to this consultation.

We would encourage you to join even if you haven’t attended the previous consultations, as your valuable insights can help shape dementia support.

Yvonne Cairns, NHS Forth Valley Dementia and Delirium Lead, and Emma Douglas, leader of the Community Mental Health Team for Older Adult Services, will be joining us again and are continuing to gather your views and experiences related to dementia services and support. The specific topic for this session will be confirmed later. During the session, Yvonne will also talk about how carers’ views and feedback shared in the last few sessions have shaped improvements in the accident and emergency department.

Please register by 1 pm on Tuesday 21 July; however, if you require a translator, please let us know at least 2 weeks in advance.

Details:
📅 Thursday 23 July 2026
⏰ From 10 am to 12 noon
📍 In person at the Falkirk and Clackmannanshire Carers Centre or on Zoom
falkirk care at home service online survey

Online Survey: Care at Home Service

The proposed changes may affect you.

Have your say now!

Daniel Stoddart, Care at Home and Review Lead at the Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership (FHSCP), is seeking carers’ views about the redesign of Falkirk’s Care and Support at Home Service.

They’re moving Falkirk Council’s Care at Home Team towards a reablement-focused service. To do this, they want to expand the team and change the kind of support they provide.

Their proposal is for an expanded Falkirk Council team that does three things:

Short-term reablement-care: This will be their main focus. They will support people new to the service or those leaving hospital. They will provide temporary support to help people increase their independence. Following this, people would move to a different local care provider for any long-term support, unless they have complex care needs.

Short-term support: The Falkirk Council team will also provide short-term support to help prevent emergency care home placements and hospital admissions.

Care at home: The Falkirk Council team will provide care at home to people who need enhanced support or if their needs cannot be met by other providers. This means most people will receive their ongoing care at home support from other local providers.

If you currently receive care at home from the Falkirk Council team, these changes may affect how your care is provided.

Most care at home will be provided by another local provider. If you need to change provider, you can choose your own or ask Falkirk Council to arrange a provider for you.

All local providers are held to the same standards as Falkirk Council’s own services. If you pay for your care, the cost of care would not change. Falkirk Council’s Social Work Adult Services will still manage your care plan.

You can share your views by completing their survey until Monday 6 July, by clicking here.

Current Vacancies – June 2026

We have a new exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and motivated candidate with good interpersonal and communication skills to join our team as an Office Administrator.

Applications for this post will close on Friday 17 July 2026.

Find out more about this role, and what skills and experience are required from the Job Profile document on our VACANCIES page. You can apply by filling in our Application Pack document, or you can use the link below to submit your application!

Important Service update for carers in Clackmannanshire

Important Service update for carers in Clackmannanshire

We want to let carers in Clackmannanshire know about an upcoming change. From 1 July 2026.  Adult Carer Support Plans and Young Carer Statements, along with ongoing statutory carer support, will transfer to Stirling Carers Centre

We will be writing to Clackmannanshire carers and asking if they would like their information passed over to Stirling Carers Centre. If you have any questions, please get in touch by emailing us at centre@centralcarers.co.uk or by phoning us on 01324 611510.

 

imagery to describe the post is about minutes for any consultation that took place with Falkirk carers in 2026.

Minutes for consultations with Falkirk Carers

Here you can find all the minutes for consultations with Falkirk carers that took place in 2026.

These meetings provide a great opportunity for carers to meet with other carers, representatives from local authorities, and other third sector organisations. Carers can share their views and experiences to help shape local and national carer support, and learn about useful services, as well as important updates that may impact their caring role.

If you’d like to join upcoming carer consultations, please email Sharlene Ramage, Carer Participation Development Worker, sharleneramage@centralcarers.co.uk.

Date Guest Organisation Topic Link to minutes
09.06.26 Social Security Scotland Benefits Minutes
01.06.26 Woodlands Resource Centre (NHS The Bungalows) Mental Health Services for those aged 18-65 Minutes

 

28.05.26 Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership Changes to Integrated Discharge and Care at Home Services Minutes

 

21.05.26 Scottish Government and NHS Forth Valley Vaccines: Flu, Covid, RSV Minutes

 

14.05.26 NHS Forth Valley Dementia: Sensory Changes Minutes

 

07.05.26 University of Stirling Nursing Programme Minutes

 

24.04.26 Falkirk Council’s Children with Disabilities Social Work Team Services and Support Minutes

 

12.03.26 NHS Forth Valley Discharge Process & Medication Minutes

 

05.03.26 No guest CONSOLIDATE Network Research Minutes

 

13.02.26 Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership Hospital Discharge & Care at Home Services Minutes