Families & carers

More than half of unpaid dementia carers feel unsupported, with many giving up work or social activities to meet caring responsibilities, a UK survey has found. Some 56 per cent said they did not feel supported in their role, raising concerns about burnout and the impact on their health and wellbeing. A further 54 per [...]

The Devizes Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Support Group is expected to raise almost £1,100 in its first year through the Wiltshire Community Lottery. The funding will help the group continue supporting people living with MS, alongside their families, friends and carers. Becky Thomas, lead for the Devizes MS Group, said: “The money raised helps us continue [...]

The government is set to scrap the carer’s allowance earnings cliff edge after thousands of unpaid carers were left with large debts for exceeding a weekly limit. Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey has outlined plans for a new digital taper system ahead of the Budget on Wednesday 28 October, when the change is due [...]

An 11-year-old girl from Swindon has raised £835 so far in a 62-mile walking challenge for the Stroke Association, inspired by her grandmother's stroke. Elsie Brown is taking part in the charity's 62 Miles in October challenge in honour of her grandmother and close friend, Sam Farrow, who had a stroke two years ago at [...]

Parental stress may help explain the link between disease-related difficulties and lower self-esteem in children with MS, a study suggests. Researchers found that greater fatigue, slower information processing and more severe disease were associated with higher parental stress. Higher stress was also linked to lower self-esteem among children and adolescents with paediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS), [...]

Tom’s Trust co-founder Deborah Mitchell is stepping away from the charity’s day-to-day work after helping establish it in 2011. Mitchell, known as Debs, co-founded the Cambridge-based children’s brain tumour charity with Andrew Whitley following the death of their nine-year-old son, Tom, from a brain tumour. She served as chief executive until 2021 and is now [...]

Around 1,500 Britons a day are quitting their jobs to provide unpaid care, a report has found. More than one million people are estimated to have left work to care for ageing, ill or disabled loved ones over the past two years. One in five employees, equivalent to 6.7 million people, are balancing paid employment [...]

Martin Gascoigne has spent years sitting at kitchen tables with families who never asked for the job they now do around the clock. As a brain injury case manager, his work is built around the client, the survivor of the injury, but he is quick to point out that the client is only ever half [...]

A fundraising appeal has raised more than £43,000 after a 23-year-old sustained a traumatic brain injury. Sam Wheeler, a Ringwood plumber and amateur DJ, sustained the injury in a fall and is now undergoing neurorehabilitation in London. The “Bring Sam Home” campaign aims to raise £80,000 to adapt his home, buy specialist equipment [...]

An MS patient is campaigning for a carer hospital access law to help disabled patients receive extra support in hospital. Nina Parry, from Swindon in Wiltshire, said some people with disabilities worried they would not be able to have their carers at their side if they were admitted to hospital. Currently, carers can make themselves [...]