Past Campaigns
Members of Uniting Carers have been involved in a number of local and national initiatives that impact on the quality and provision of services for people with dementia,and for the family carers who providie the lions share of care themselves.
Bolton Admiral Nurse service under threat of closure
Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust is planning to shut the Bolton Admiral Nursing service. The intention is that the service will be wound down and closed by 31 March 2012.
The Trust has blamed spending cuts for the decision. However, the decision appears to have been taken without any formal consultation with stakeholders, partners, the nurses themselves - or indeed, the patients and carers who benefit from this unique and irreplaceable service.
There is also the real fear that without the Admiral Nurses, family carers of people with dementia will be left with no specialist dementia support in Bolton.
You can access our statement here
We need your help
We are challenging this closure and we need the voices and support of local people in Bolton to put pressure on the decision-makers to reverse the decision to close the Bolton Admiral Nurse service.
With your help we can reverse this decision
How you can get involved if you're from the Bolton area:
Click here to download the information sheet
We have produced template letters for you to write to the local decision-makers:
- Template letter to Bev Humphreys, CEO of the Greater Manchester Mental Healt NHS Foundation Trust
- Template letter to Tim Evans, CEO of NHS Bolton
- Template letter to Sean Harris, CEO of Bolton Council
- Template letter to your local MP
- Template letter to your local councillor
How you can get involved if you're from the Greater Manchester area:
Click here to download the information sheet
Click here to download the template letter to send to Bev Humphreys, CEO of the Greater Manchester Mental Healt NHS Foundation Trust
For more information or to discuss anything in more details please contact Faradane O'Callaghan, Communications Officer at Dementia UK on email faradane.ocallaghan@dementiauk.org or tel: 0207 874 7203
Dementia UK, 6 Camden High Street, London, NW1 0JH
PUTTING A FACE TO CUTS - HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD
2.30-3.30pm
Thursday 14th July
Main Hall in Haringey Irish Centre, Pretoria Rd, N17 8DX
Speakers: David Lammy MP, and those affected by the Day Centre cuts.
Come along to show the media and the public who these cuts will be affecting, and to tell them what your day centre means to you!
We would like as many people to come as possible to show that these cuts will significantly affect the support that people with dementia and their carers receive.
Please share this with any carers groups or individuals you know that may be willing to support this event.
MESSAGE FROM DAVID LAMMY MP
"I want to make sure that the older people and their carers have the chance to speak out about how the cuts to Day Centres will affect them, and so on Thursday 14th July I will be inviting representatives from the media to come to the Haringey Irish Centre and listen to their voices - to your voices.
"These centres provide a place for older people to meet with friends, enjoy activities, and get out of their homes. They also provide much needed respite for carers, those members of our society who were there long before there was any mention of 'big society', quietly and faithfully caring for their relatives through their old age.
"It is the job of the Government to protect the most vulnerable in society, not to pull the rug out from under their feet.
"Please come along and make sure that your voice is heard."
Rt. Hon. David Lammy, Member of Parliament for Tottenham.
Everyone is free to attend the event, but it would be helpful if we knew how many were coming before hand, so if you can, please RSVP to nicola.hutchison@parliament.uk
Terminate the Rate Campaign
http://www.terminatetherate.org
Update: Ofcom rules in favour of cheaper calls to mobiles
Ofcom has announced its final decision on the future regulation of Mobile Termination Rates. Ofcom decided that MTRs will fall over a period of three years coming down to 2.66p in 2011, 1.70p in 2012, 1.08p in 2013 arriving at 0.69p in April 2014. Ofcom will adjust these figures for inflation, meaning that from April 2011 MTRs will come down to 2.98p with an eventual rate of around a penny. Click here for more information
Background
Terminate the Rate campaigned against the Mobile Termination Rate (MTR). This is when mobile phone companies charge a rate for calling a different network to your own, for example calling T-mobile from an Orange network phone. Currently this is charged at 4.7p per minute. For many carers their mobile is a lifeline and is used often to make many calls, such as organising respite care, calling medical staff, checking to see that the person they care for is OK when they have to leave the house. These calls add significantly to carers expenses in a time when their income is greatly reduced. Lowering MTRs will make a big difference to carers lives.
Carers' Manifesto
We support Carers UK who have published a manifesto for the general election, which sets out a blueprint for the next government to achieve real and lasting change for carers and their families, and assesses the progress for carers in the last five years. The manifesto calls for action in six key areas:
· Health and care
· Employment and training
· Poverty and social exclusion
· Equality and human rights
· Young carers
· Recognition, information and advice
If you'd like to find out more, log on here to read the manifesto and you can also email the next Prime Minister (whoever that may be) or join a virtual protest click here
Carers UK Poverty Charter
http://www.carersuk.org/Newsandcampaigns/Shortchanged/CarersPovertyCharter/
Carers UK Poverty Charter is campaigning for government to bring forward their review of carer's benefits. Carers UK plans to present the Charter to the government and all UK political parties in the following few months. Add your voice to the Charter here.
Campaign to 'Keep counting carers' has been won!
Carers are to be counted in the Census 2011 - 9th April 2008
We have been informed that a question on carers is now going to be included on the 2011 Census, after funding was found for an additional page. The data provided from the 2001 Census was the first full data on carers and showed there were many more carers than had been estimated.
So thank you to all of you who sent out our Keep Counting Carers postcards to your MP and to Ivan Lewis, as it clearly had an impact!
Carers are an important and integral part of our society, and continuing to include them in the Census ensures that they are not hidden again. It also gives valuable information that can be utilised when services are being planned and commissioned.
This is an important result for carers, and for Dementia UK, Carers UK and all the other organisations that have campaigned for carers to be included.
Barbara Stephens, Chief Executive of Dementia UK, said "Thank you to everyone who has taken up the challenge to make your views heard. Members of Uniting Carers are involved in activities throughout the country and this is an excellent example of how important it is for carers to have a voice and a platform to ensure that your interests are represented."
If you are interested in becoming involved in Campaigning or would like to let us know about a campaign that you are involved in please contact Joy Uniting Carers on 020 7874 7225/09 or email carers@dementiauk.org.