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Calling all carers - Your Centre Needs You!

Here at Fife Carers Centre we are very aware of the heavy burden that carers carry and try not to add to it - but we now need help that only you can give us. Firstly - We are often involved in meetings and discussions with various bodies where we are asked to, or feel that we have to, speak up on behalf of carers in Fife. All of our Board of Management and all the staff here are carers or former carers with personal experience of caring and thanks to our day to day contact with carers we feel that we are quite well placed to talk about the issues and concerns for carers in Fife as well as the things carers feel they need. However! We are increasingly aware that to stay on the ball with what’s going on with carers lives we need to ask them! So - we have a cunning plan… once a quarter we will be inviting you to come to a “Carers’ Checkpoint!” session where we will have very informal discussion and debate about carers current issues, concerns and ideas which will enable us to represent you with confidence. These “Carers’ Checkpoint” sessions will be held in locations throughout Fife to allow as many people as possible to come along and be heard. If you can’t come along but would still like to have some input then you could write, telephone or email us with your thoughts. Secondly - we have had some great success with our training workshops for NHS Fife and Social Work staff and the part that has the greatest impact is when we have carers present talking about their own experiences. Hearing from “ the horse’s mouth” just how hard it can be at times really helps course delegates to understand carers lives and it encourages them to think about the carer when they are working with the cared for person. If you are interested at all in helping us with either or both of these things please call us on 01592 642999 with your contact details and we will get in touch with you when these events are taking place to see if you are available. We often have things happening which need carer participation so keep reading your newsletter for ways in which you can join in!

Thank You

As we draw to the end of 2008 we would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all our funders, particularly The Big Lottery Fund and The Coalfields Regeneration Trust and to all those who have given generously of their time and support all of which has contributed an outstandingly successful year for Fife Carers Centre.

Good vibrations in the centre

When we saw how much benefit carers gained from the massage sessions with the Adam Smith Students we decided that we would like to be able to offer carers visiting the centre some sort of massage therapy on a more regular basis. To that end we have used a grant from the Coalfields Regenerations Trust to buy a massaging chair; that is a chair that massages you! It’s enjoyably effective and it’s available for carers to use without charge (that’s if we can pry the staff out of it!). Just phone the centre on 01592 642999 to book a half hour session.

 

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