Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

CARERS WEEKS

I spoke at a special service at Exeter Cathedral on Monday, celebrating the work of some of Devon’s 74,000 carers. We enjoyed the raucous singing and percussion of enthusiastic young people from some of the county’s special schools and heard testimony from unsung heroes who care for sons and daughters or parents around the clock. It was deeply moving and motivating. I rang Jan from the station, still all churned up, and said that if I ever complained about my lot in life again she was to take me out in the field and shoot me. She agreed surprisingly willingly.

One poem came anonymously from North Devon about how that person was caring for her dad who had Alzheimer’s disease, all the time wondering when her own life was going to start; and would she be too old? Two million people countrywide have been caring pretty well full time for a family member for over ten years.

It is necessary that we care for the people within our own family units who need special help. The state simply could not afford to do it, as the value of carer’s work is estimated at £57 billion per year, if the tax payer was footing the bill. Blood is thicker than water and looking out for one another in good times and bad is what we sign up to in marriage and when we have children. It is pointless to ask “why me?” when things go wrong in the life of a loved one. We all know that life can be so random – bad things happen to good people.

But the lack of support that carer’s get from the rest of us through the agencies that are there to provide help is a silent scandal. Imagine caring for a severely disabled child every hour of every day and not even being able to go to the toilet alone, or get a night off to chill out, or take your other children to the cinema. We have to provide better short breaks for these heroes, many of whom are at breaking point. Future generations will look back aghast at how we failed to care for the carers.

Things are moving. The government has unveiled a very welcome package of extra cash recently to help provide respite care. There is welcome momentum within the corridors of power on this subject, not before time. More is needed.

posted by Nigel on Monday, June 18, 2007