Dear Carers UK members
Please see the message below from Carers UK’s campaigns team
This Carers Week, Carers UK and the six other charities involved this year are calling for the UK Government to publish a Recovery and Respite Plan for unpaid carers. Please write to your MP today and ask that they support our campaign.
Millions of people have provided unpaid care to family and friends over the past two and a half years to ensure they were looked after and kept safe. The level of support that carers have provided to family and friends has been staggering, but has often come at great cost to their own health and wellbeing. Although some may feel that the pandemic is over, many carers don’t feel that way – both the legacy of the pandemic, as well as worries about infection, are still present in carers’ lives. Ahead of this winter, and to ensure carers get the support they need as soon as possible, Government needs to provide more support to unpaid carers to enable them to care safely and well, and to live a life beyond their caring responsibilities.
That’s why this Carers Week we are collectively calling for Government to develop a Recovery and Respite Plan for Unpaid Carers, outlining additional support for carers across a range of areas – including breaks, respite and care services, infection control, identification of carers, financial help, and support to juggle work and care. For example, carers were left out of the recent announcement by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation about Autumn COVID-19 boosters and we think carers should be included. Publishing a Recovery and Respite Plan would recognise the enormous impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on carers’ lives, as well as the people they care for, and help to mitigate some of the negative impacts that caring can have on carers’ own physical and mental health.
To raise awareness of Carers Week and our campaign, please click the button below and take a couple of minutes to write to your local MP today. If you are currently caring, please do tell your MP about your own experience of caring and the impact it has had on you, as well as the support you need. We have provided a template letter and ask that you add your own personal experience to this, before sending it. Please forward any response you receive from your MP to policy@carersuk.org so that we can follow up with them, if you are happy to do so.
PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO WRITE TO YOUR LOCAL MP
If you would like to share the campaign action on your social media channels, we suggest using the below message:
This #CarersWeek, Carers UK and the other charities involved are calling for the UK Government to publish a Recovery and Respite Plan for Unpaid Carers.
Please write to your MP today and ask that they support the campaign! 
About our campaign | Carers Week
Thank you in advance for your support.
The Carers UK campaigns team!