Communication to carers

Carers Trust wants to involve unpaid carers more meaningfully in its work. Carers Trust sees this as important to strengthening the authenticity of its work and ensure that what we do truly reflect what carers need. Carers Trust are working with another charity called New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) to help us develop a shared and consistent approach to involvement and participation of unpaid carers across Carers Trust at an organisational level.

Carers Trust would like to invite carers (aged 18 or over) to two online sessions. If carers would like to attend both, that is great, if they would like to attend one or the other, that is great too. So that we can make sure we are spreading the opportunity over as many carers as we can, Carers Trust will confirm nearer the time who will attend.

To register your interest, complete this form: https://forms.office.com/r/GcB1TLihiu

Session 1 (Monday 4 October, morning, exact time to be confirmed, 1 hour)

will explore the scope and parameters for the new Carers Trust involvement approach. During the session we will explore:

• what carers would like to see carer involvement achieve at Carers Trust and for carers.

• where carers see value in more involvement and how they would expect this to impact Carers Trust.

• what Carers Trust would need to do to support carers to input in the ways discussed.

There will be two NPC facilitators and 1 or 2 staff from Carers Trust who will not provide input as participants but provide support to unpaid carers in the session should they need it. The session will be designed so that participants feel encouraged to share their views and make comments. There will be a group of 6 – 8 carers in the session. A facilitator will ask a number of questions to the group for you to respond to and discuss with other participants. The facilitators take notes of the discussion, and your feedback will inform future sessions with Carers Trust staff and the design of the final approach.

Important note for participants: Please note that your responses will remain anonymous and not be attributed to individuals. No names will be included in the written output. Your participation is voluntary. This means you can choose whether or not to participate in the session and take breaks or withdraw at any time during the course of the session.

Session 2 (Wednesday 27 October 9.30-1)

Carers Trust staff and carers will build options for Carers Trust’s approach, aims, principles, and possible processes and practices for carer involvement. We will also aim to come to a shared understanding of what Carers Trust and carers are trying to achieve together and build a sense of ownership of the emerging approach. During the session we will seek to:

• Agree the intended outcomes of involvement and the vision

• Explore and agreeing key principles of user involvement at Carers Trust

• Explore different processes and practices across Carers Trust (where carers could be involved, pros and cons of different options and trade-offs to consider, and support needed to enable changes and how to ensure the greatest benefit for carers in participating)

• Explore how gradual changes and progress could be planned over 1, 3 and 5 years, as the organisation learns about what works well and less well for carers and staff.

The session will not lead to final decisions about the approach – however, it will explore different options and their pros and cons, which can then be analysed and used to decide on the approach in subsequent phases and into 2022. These decisions may also be influenced by Carers Trust’s new strategy.

What to expect from the workshop: the session is designed to be very interactive with two NPC staff facilitating. There will be discussions, individual work and work in groups, and all members of the group will be encouraged to play an active role and will have the chance to contribute their views.

Ground rules for the discussion: We will ask you to listen to what everyone has to say, and respect and value their contributions. There are no right or wrong answers. If you need to take a break at any time you should feel free to turn off your camera and microphone and take as long as you need.

Please note that your responses will remain anonymous and not be attributed to individuals. No names will be included in the written output. Your participation is voluntary. This means you can choose whether or not to participate in the session and take breaks or withdraw at any time during the course of the session.

What happens after the workshops? Carers Trust will keep in touch with you and let you know what happens next.

To register your interest, complete this form: https://forms.office.com/r/GcB1TLihiu