People in Tasburgh come together to set up their own carer’s group, as Communities Week 2017 gets underway
This week is Communities Week – a chance to celebrate the positive change led by communities across England and to find out more about people who’ve taken action to make where they live a better place.
Here in Norfolk, people in village of Tasburgh have come together to set up their own carer’s group. Often carers’ groups are hosted by charities or other voluntary organisations but this group has literally sprung up from the community itself.
The idea came during a meeting of the Tasburgh village social club. Members realised there was a vacant room that the community could be making better use of.
One of the social club members suggested a carer’s group might benefit the village, so the club decided to find out if there would be any interest in the idea. 400 leaflets asking people if they might be interested in taking part and/or if they might like to volunteer were produced and delivered to local homes.
The overwhelming response from villagers was that they would like to see a carer’s group established in Tasburgh, and an initial meeting was held by those who wanted to take part. Tasburgh village social club agreed to offer the room for free to the community for six months.
The first carer’s group was held last week. There were 6 carers and 8 volunteers who attended, as well as members of the village social club. Norfolk Carer’s Support worker Stacy Robertson also attended to speak to the group about ways they might want to move the group forward in the future. Members have decided on a basic committee structure and will meet on the third Thursday of every month.
Tim Allard from Norfolk Carers says “Initiatives like this are great; people helping one another at a very local level. It’s an opportunity for people to support each other in their time and on their terms, independently.”
Norfolk Carers can provide small grants to help carers start up or maintain a carer’s group. To find out more about carers’ groups in Norfolk or for information on how to set up a group, please contact the Norfolk Carers Advice Line on 0808 808 9876. It’s open Mon-Fri 9-5pm and Sat 10-2pm.