Thread by @Carer49

#realcarersweek 1/
Carer poverty is increasing - as the benefit system is devastated; as care charges increase exponentially, as carers are forced to leave work to care, many find themselves struggling to afford the basic and subsidising care costs and paying for equipment.

#realcarersweek 2/
Carer health is suffering - mental health, anxiety, physical pain, putting off their own health checks, often because there is no support to allow them to do this. Emergency planning to take account of carer needs/wellbeing is patchy at best.

#realcarersweek 3/ Where is the future planning? How are we planning for the future of disabled children and adults who may outlive their immediate family? The greatest fear of carers is what happens if they are no longer there to care for our loved ones.

#realcarersweek 4/ Carers at the hard end of caring are often excluded from the policy and legislative processes that deeply affect their lives. Politicians/policy makers need to do more to get to where we are. You need to rebuild trust - because just now we feel abandoned.

#realcarersweek 5/
Caring is emotionally and physically draining - we're storing up a carer wellbeing time bomb if we continue to abandon carers and leave them unsupported.

#realcarersweek 6/ We continually see poor implementation of (sometimes) well intentioned policies - well apart from Loco Parentis which is just blooming crazy (#Ireland). In reality, you can't transform key services such as social care whilst severe cuts are being made. #SDS

#realcarersweek 7/ Respite, respite, respite. We continue to lose specialised services; carers fighting to maintain what little they have; personal budgets (#SDS) often fund very little. Short breaks for carers are essential and must be flexible enough to meet families' needs.

#realcarersweek 8/ Carers ask for help only to be turned away or to face gatekeeping of epic proportions.Caring is NOT a lifestyle choice - as I help my husband to dress, manage continence, deal with the next diagnosis, this is not a life I would have chosen for either of us.

#realcarersweek 9/ The @jrf_uk thread on caring and employment this week should shame every politician who says they want a fair and more equal country.

#realcarersweek 10/ When did we lose the "public" in public services? Carers talk about their battles with bureaucracy; with barriers to getting assistance to which they are legally entitled.They are waiting longer for critical support & are increasingly isolated as a result.

#realcarersweek 11/
More carers are taking on multiple caring roles - and are left high and dry with increasing pressures and stress.

#realcarersweek 12/
Carers are expected to do more and more without any real understanding of cost - to carers, to families, to communities and to our economy. Carers feel that they are exploited.

#realcarersweek 13/
Young carers experience isolation and difficult circumstances - often as a result of lack of support to their wider family. Let's not lose these wonderful young people - let's not kill their dreams and ambitions.

#realcarersweek 14/
Quality of life, participation and fulfilment of key human rights cannot be delivered with a low unit cost. Either we value disabled people and carers or we don't.

#realcarersweek 15/ Carers want a living wage; some of us are open to exploring the Universal Basic Income #ubi. Caring should not mean poverty and destitution.

#realcarersweek 16/
carers feel abandoned politically; when we try to reach out and help shape a better future, we find increasingly that doors are closed. We want to make things better and we want to help - if you'll let us.

#realcarersweek 17/ This thread comes from the stories/experience of #carers in #Scotland, #England #NorthernIreland & #Ireland (do we have any Welsh carers?) The thread shares our worries, fears & ideas for change. I hope that every politician who knows us takes time to listen.

#realcarersweek thread.
Did I miss anything guys?