Carers UK is the main membership charity in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

for

carers A caregiver or carer is a paid or unpaid member of a person's social network who helps them with activities of daily living. Since they have no specific professional training, they are often described as informal caregivers. Caregivers most commo ...

. It was formed by the merger of two existing voluntary organisations on 14 May 1988. 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. These include : * the

Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995 A caregiver or carer is a paid or unpaid member of a person's social network who helps them with activities of daily living. Since they have no specific professional training, they are often described as informal caregivers. Caregivers most commo ...

* the

Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 A caregiver or carer is a paid or unpaid member of a person's social network who helps them with activities of daily living. Since they have no specific professional training, they are often described as informal caregivers. Caregivers most commo ...

* the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 * the

Work and Families Act 2006 The Work and Families Act 2006 (c 18) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territo ...

Carers UK organises Carers Rights Day, produces leaflets and a magazine, and has a free carers helpline. The registered address is 20

Great Dover Street Great Dover Street is a road in Southwark, south London, England. At the northwest end it joins Marshalsea Road and Borough High Street and there is a junction with Long Lane; Borough Underground station is at this location. At the southeast ...

, London, SE1 4LX.

Governance and organisation

Carers UK is a Trustee-led organisation, with a membership fluctuating between 7-40,000 individual members. Members at the AGM ratify the appointment of the Trustees who must always be a majority of carers. Carers UK has staffed offices in four major UK cities-

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

(Headquarters),

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, and

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. 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 January 1963, the Reverend Mary Webster wrote letter to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' concerning the difficulties that confronted single women facing the complex task of earning the family living and caring for the home, the sick and the elderly. Her letters to newspapers, journals, MPs and peers drew attention to the isolation and financial hardship that women carers were suffering, and generated a huge response from hundreds of women in similar situations. As a result of Webster's efforts, the National Council for the Single Woman and her Dependants was formed in 1965.

Baroness Seear Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

was an early supporter. Due to her intervention, a meeting was held in the Grand Committee Room of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. Other early supporters and fundraisers included

Sir Keith Joseph Keith Sinjohn Joseph, Baron Joseph, (17 January 1918 – 10 December 1994), known as Sir Keith Joseph, 2nd Baronet, for most of his political life, was a British politician, intellectual and barrister. A member of the Conservative Party, he ...

, MP. The NCSWD was instrumental in securing the first ever right for carers in the Dependant Tax Allowance in 1967 as well as contributing towards the campaign to introduce Attendance Allowance, the benefit for people aged over 65, as well as securing Invalid Care Allowance, later renamed Carer's Allowance which is still the main benefit for carers today. In 1981, Judith Oliver, a carer for her husband, founded the Association of Carers, 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. 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 14 May 1988, and was renamed Carers UK in 2001. The Chief Executive is Helen Walker.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carers Uk 1988 establishments in the United Kingdom Charities for disabled people based in the United Kingdom Social care in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1988 Carers organizations

Charitable purposes

Governance and organisation

History and origins

See also

References

External links