Leading the way to support unpaid carers

With Carers Week taking place on June 5-11, the centre is aiming to raise awareness of the vital role that unpaid carers play in society, the many challenges they face and advocate for better support.

From health walks across the county’s scenic areas, cake-making sessions, gentle fitness sessions, to a tea dance, and workshops on neurodiversity and climate change, Angus Carers Centre has something for everyone.

It is estimated that one in six adults in Scotland provide unpaid care, with the total value of care generated in the region of £10 billion per annum - one sixth of the Scottish Government budget for 2023/24.

Despite this, unpaid carers remain invisible, hidden and misunderstood. The carers centre is on a mission to change that. It invests in relationships because the charity recognises that, very often, this is the only relationship when the carer can truly be themselves.

Maciej Alexander, Angus Carers Centre CEO, said: “Even though one in six adults provides unpaid care in Scotland, caring continues to go unnoticed with so few people seeing themselves as unpaid carers.

"When you become a carer, you develop this instinctive sense of duty that gradually overshadows your own identity. The identity you’ve shaped and developed over the years can gradually vanish and you become the proverbial rock for the person you care for. When you look after someone else, who looks after you? Angus Carers Centre does.

“Our community needs to recognise that the narrative around unpaid carers needs to change. The stigma, sense of guilt and even shame experienced can be pervasive and compound the sense of loneliness for so many. Only by working together will we further amplify the collective impact unpaid carers make and raise even more awareness for this important cause”.

Registered carers can book places for activities at www.eventbrite.com or by calling 01241 439157.