Carers UK is a charity set up to help the millions of people who care for family or friends. We provide information and advice about caring alongside practical and emotional support for carers .
Carers UK also campaigns to make life better for carers and influences policy makers, employers and service providers, to help them improve carers' lives.
At some point in our lives every one of us will be involved in looking after an older relative, a sick friend or a disabled family member. Six million people in the UK are caring right now but whilst caring is part and parcel of life, without the right support the personal costs of caring can be high.
Caring can take its toll on your finances, your health, your career and your family and your social life. Carers can fall out of paid work and many rely on low-level benefits, forcing them into poverty.
Yet without unpaid carers our NHS would collapse and the country would face an £119 billion care bill it cannot afford. Carers are contributing so much to their communities by looking after the people they love, yet in return they face ignorance, isolation and little or no support. This has to stop. It cannot be fair that those who contribute so much are valued so little. Carers UK wants society to respect, value and support carers.
