Carers UK

Carers UK is the main membership charity in the United Kingdom for carers. It was formed by the merger of two existing voluntary organisations on May 14, 1988.[1] Originally constituted as Carers National Association it was renamed Carers UK in 2001.

Charitable purposes

Carers UK provides information to carers and leads campaigns to improve carers' rights and tackle inequality. It has been instrumental in securing the first ever legal rights for carers.[2] These include :

Carers UK also organises Carers Rights Day, produces leaflets and a magazine, and has a free carers helpline.

The registered address is:

Carers UK, 20 Great Dover Street, London, SE1 4LX

Governance and organisation

Carers UK is a member-led organisation, with a membership that has fluctuated between 7-12,000 individual members. Members elect the Trustees who must always be a majority of carers.

Carers UK currently has staffed offices in five major UK cities; London (HQ), Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff and Manchester. National committees exist in the devolved countries with some degree of autonomy to formulate local responses to the national devolved assemblies and their policy processes.

History and origins

In 1965 the National Council for the Single Woman and her Dependants was formed following a letter to The Times newspaper by a carer, the Reverend Mary Webster, concerning the difficulties that confronted single women when they faced the complex task of earning the family living and caring for the home, the sick and the elderly. She began writing to newspapers, journals, MPs and peers drawing attention to the isolation and financial hardship that women carers were suffering. Her letters received a huge response from hundreds of women in similar situations.[3]

Baroness Seear was an early supporter. Due to her intervention, a meeting was held in the Grand Committee Room of the House of Commons. Other early supporters and fundraisers included Sir Keith Joseph, MP.

In 1981 the UK Association of Carers was formed, aided by a grant of £9,879 from the Equal Opportunities Commission. The group campaigned for Invalid Care Allowance to be extended to married women. Following a test case brought to the European Court on behalf of Jackie Drake, in June 1986 the government was forced to capitulate.[4]

In 1982 The National Council for the Single Woman and Her Dependants was renamed "The National Council for Carers and their Elderly Dependants" in an attempt to be more inclusive. Carers National Association was formed by the merger of the two existing voluntary organizations on May 14, 1988. and was renamed Carers UK in 2001.

References

  1. ↑ "Carers rights movement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia". En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  2. ↑ "The Voice of Carers : Carers UK success and achievements". Carers UK. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  3. ↑ "The Voice of Carers : Our History". Carers UK. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  4. ↑ "Invalid Care Allowance". Hansard. 23 June 1986. Retrieved 19 April 2014.

External links