It’s Carers Week 2026! 

Once a year, between 8 – 14 June, carer charities and groups come together to raise awareness of the work carers do, what impact caring has on carers and those around them, and what we can do on a societal level to better support them.

The theme this year is “Building Carer-Friendly Communities“, highlighting how communities can better support carers, empowering them and easing the strain of their responsibilities.

I’d like to contribute to this week by talking about my mum’s experience as a carer, and what I believe can be done to better support her and others like her. I have spoken more in-depth on this topic over at Nation Cymru, which you can read here.

My mum has been a carer for both my grandparents for just over a decade, having been made redundant from the Land Registry in 2009, and taking on caring duties for my nan since then, and soon after, for my bampa (grandfather) too. She would be the first to tell you that, while rewarding, it is by no means easy or, as some well-meaning friends have described it, a “career break”.

Caring for loved ones, especially when you live in the same household as them, is your career, one that doesn’t allow you to clock-off at the end of the day, and only comes to an end when the unthinkable happens, and a loved one passes away; a reality my mum had to face earlier this year when my lovely nan passed. An aspect that often gets overlooked is what happens after a carer’s responsiblities come to an end. They’re left with no job, no support, and no structure. This is an area that I believe both the state, local authorities, and communities need to play a much larger role.

Just to note at this point: these are all pipe-dream goals I have to better support carers, rather than completely fleshed out ideas. How they would actually be funded or established, I don’t know; this is just what I would like to see.

The state

The state needs to play its part in providing grief counselling and general mental health support for carers, and this could be explored by joining up the mental health and social care services. Rather than having a carer engage with one system, go through the whole process, only to then have to engage with a completely new system and explain everything they’ve been through, the two should be joined up, with a clear avenue for carers to meet and talk with counsellors who are already up to date on everything the carer has gone through. 

This would ease the burden on the carer of having to relive every little thing in trying to get yet another person to understand. If the carer and the counsellor don’t gel, then they can go to a new counsellor, who would also be informed on what the carer has gone through.

Local authorities

I need to state, at this point, that I’m focusing solely on local authorities in Wales, rather than across the entirety of Great Britain.

Some local authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic provided carers with a one-off £500 grant to support them through that period, as part of a £29 million investment in supporting unpaid carers. While a great initiative, it needs to be brought back in some form, on a regular basis, to better support unpaid carers. Between the cost of living increases due to global conflicts, the previously mentioned pandemic, and Brexit, the current allowance of £86 a week is nowhere near enough to help carers even survive, let alone live a full life outside of their responsibilities.

Not only should this be a scheme that supports carers while they are caring, but it should also support those who are no longer caring, and are in the transitional period between leaving behind the life they knew and reentering society. Once they have completed counselling and are back in regular employment, the payments can stop.

This new Welsh Government should explore investing more in social care, by way of permanent regular top-up payments administered by local authorities, to assist carers and those they look after, as well as asist carers who are transitioning out of their responsibilities. Given that as of 2021/22, the estimated national healthcare cost saved by having carers was £184.3 billion a year, it would not be too much to ask that they are recognised and celebrated properly for their contributions.

Communities

The final part of this three-pronged approach to helping carers is their local communities. Like my mum, many people probably would have grown up with the carer and those they care for as neighbours and friends. This means that when a loss is experienced by the carer and their family, it’s a loss felt by the community, too. I believe it is times like these when that same community needs to come together to fully support the carer and their family.

Whether it’s grabbing their shopping for them while they grieve, or helping a carer find employment after a passing, the community should act as a rock for carers and their families. A question my mum will often ask is, “Who cares for the carers?” It’s a valid question, as while my dad and I do all we can to help, my mum is still left with all the responsibility whenever we’re not around. This is where communities need to step up.

To be clear, many already do, and they should be celebrated for it. And this isn’t a bashing of communities that don’t, as many people experience their own challenges that prevent them from being as involved as they might want to be. But, especially at a time where the country feels so fractured and divisiveness is more prevalent than ever, people coming together to help those who give everything for their loved ones would be a fantastic start to building carer-friendly communities.  

* Jack Meredith is a member of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and an active campaigner and canvasser with Swansea and Gower Liberal Democrats. His writing focuses on democratic reform, social justice, trade unionism, economic democracy, and the institutional foundations of effective government. He has written for the Fabians, Lib Dem Voice, Liberator, Nation Cymru, Bylines Cymru, and Centre Think Tank.