Saga Respite Trust - respite for older carers

More than six million people in the UK provide unpaid care to their loved ones. This figure is expected to rise to around nine million in the next 25 years. 

Many provide much needed care 24 hours a day with little or no opportunity for a short break, let alone a holiday.

Carers often put their own lives, careers, health and relationships on hold in order to look after relatives. The Saga Respite for Carers Trust was set up to try and help redress the balance by providing a much needed holiday for the carer and a friend. The award also includes spending money and if required the payment of professional respite care for their loved ones to ensure continuity of care.

Award winners come from all over the UK, with most looking to the sun for a chance to recharge their batteries, while others choose to remain in the UK, visiting parts of the country they have longed to see but put on hold while caring for their loved one.

Are you a carer in need of a break?
The period for submitting nominations for 2016 is now open, and will close on 31st August 2016.
The carer should be aged 50 or over, not be a professional carer and have been caring for someone for more than a year without having taken a significant holiday away within the last year.

You can apply yourself or nominate someone you think deserves it. For details, visit: www.saga.co.uk/saga-charitable-foundation.aspx, or send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Saga Respite for Carers Trust, Enbrook Park, Folkestone, Kent CT20 3SE, and a paper form will be sent out to you.

If you are thinking of applying for this you will also want to consider a carer’s assessment to look at the different ways that caring affects your life and work out how you can carry on doing the things that are important to you and your family. For more information contact your local council.