Support for carers

• Action for Carers Surrey
  • Provides help to carers of all ages across Surrey including training or group support.
  • Telephone: 0303 040 123
• ADHD UK
  • Helping people navigate their life with ADHD, reduce stigma that some attach to those with ADHD, build awareness, and undertake or fund research that will have a meaningful positive impact on those with ADHD. 
• Age UK
  • Providing services across the whole of Surrey to help people aged 50+ make the most of their life.
  • Telephone: 01483 503 414
• Alzheimer’s Society
  • Working towards a world where dementia no longer devastates lives. By providing help to those living with dementia and carers who may be impacted by the illness.
  • Telephone: 0333 150 3456
• Andy's Man Club
  • Aiming to prevent other families from going through the heartache and grief caused by male suicide, by encouraging men to speak openly about their issues.
  • Providing Monday night talking groups, and through the power of awareness, sharing stories and sharing experiences.            
• Barnardo’s
  • Engaging with individuals who care for young children, providing education support, therapy courses and parent groups.
• Brigitte Trust
  • For individuals and their families living in the Surrey area and facing the challenges of life-limiting conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, lung disease, and many more.
  • Offering support groups, wellbeing days and training on end-of-life care.
  • Telephone: 01306 881 816
• Carers Allowance online application
  • Carer's Allowance benefits people aged 16 and over who look after someone with substantial caring needs.
• Dementia support services Surrey County Council
  • Support for local dementia carers
• Carers Trust
  • Working to transform the lives of unpaid carers through innovative programme work, influencing policies, undertaking research and providing specialist resources for professionals.
  • Telephone: 0300 772 9600
• Carers UK
  • The leading national charity for unpaid carers. Offering employment support, advocacy and connecting carers across the UK.
  • Telephone: 0808 808 7777
• Catalyst Support
  • Promoting the mental health and wellbeing of people in Surrey, improving lives in terms of stability and wellbeing, with the aim of reducing harm to themselves, their families and the community.
  • Telephone: 01483 590 150
• Connect to Support Surrey
  • Central point to explore local care and support in the community to help individuals and families stay independent, healthy and connected to your community.
• Crossroads Care Surrey
  • Offering support, information and advice to unpaid carers, families and the individuals they care for.
  • Telephone: 01372 869 970
• Cruise Bereavement Support
  • Service offering bereavement support though trained volunteers to help make sense of how you may be feeling after losing a loved one or friend.
  • Helpline: 0808 808 1677
• Dementia Carers
  • Dementia Carers is a UK charity providing information, advice and support to thousands of dementia carers every year.
  • Telephone: 0203 5400 700           
• Dementia UK
  • The specialist dementia nursing charity, working towards a day where no one must face dementia alone.
  • Telephone: 0800 888 6678
• Diabetes UK
  • Diabetes information and guidance.
  • Telephone: 0345 123 2399
• Down’s Syndrome Association
  • Supports people who have Down’s syndrome, and their parents and carers, throughout their lives. From before birth into older age.
  • Telephone: 0333 1212 300
• Epilepsy Society
  • Offering a confidential helpline to anyone affected by epilepsy. Welcoming people with epilepsy, their families and friends, as well as professionals such as doctors, nurses, care workers, teachers and employers. Also offering support groups run by volunteers around the country.
  • Telephone: 01494 601 300
  • Telephone helpline: 01494 601 400    
• Family Voice Surrey
  • Parent carers of children and young people with additional needs aged 0-25 in Surrey.
  • Telephone: 01372 705 708
• Flu jab for carers
  • If you care for someone who is elderly, frail or disabled, speak to your GP about having a flu jab along with the person you care for.
• Forces Connect
  • If you are supporting members of the Armed Forces community or you have served yourself, the free Forces Connect app can signpost to a broad range of support and advice.          
• Headway Surrey
  • Supports adults over 18 in Surrey with acquired and traumatic brain injury, and supports their families, friends, employers, health and social care workers.
  • Telephone: 01483 454 433
• Healthwatch Surrey
  • Champions the voice of local people to shape, improve and get the best from NHS, health and social care services.
  • Telephone: 0303 303 0023
• Healthy Surrey
  • Helps find self-care information, as well as signposting to local services available to Surrey residents.
• Home equipment finder | Surrey County Council
  • Suggestions of things you can buy if you struggle with daily tasks like remembering to take medication, preparing a meal, washing or dressing or moving around your home
• Jointly app
  • Working across different platforms (online, iOS and Android) and devices, the app is a central place where carers can store important information about the person they are looking after and share this information with other family members involved in the care.
  • Jointly combines several valuable features, including group messaging, calendar, task allocation and medication management.
• Luminus
  • Luminus capture the voice of Surrey by hearing different views and opinions to better tailor services to the needs of the community.
  • Telephone: 01483 301 448
• Macmillan
  • Macmillan provide support and information about different cancer types and what support there is for families and carers of those battling cancer.
  • Telephone: 0808 808 0000
• National Autistic Society Surrey
  • A parent-to-parent support group run by volunteers, talks, workshops and activities for parents or families living with Autism.
  • Telephone: 07423 435 413
  • Email: surrey.branch@nas.org.uk 
• Parkinsons Society
  • Helps families find out what the early symptoms are and what you can do next, what local support is available and peer support groups of people in similar situations.
  • Telephone: 0808 800 0303
• MS Society
  • With facts, information and next steps from expert advisers. 
  • Telephone: 0808 800 8000           
• Marie Curie
  • Caring when there is no cure. Marie Curie aims to ease your pain, protect your dignity and support the people you love by putting patients and families first.
  • Telephone: 0800 090 2309
• Mencap
  • Offering a free helpline service with advice and support for people with a learning disability, and their families and carers.
  • Telephone: 0207 454 0454
• MIND
  • Supporting residents with mental health condition and carers supporting them with free recourses, workplace information and online peer support.
  • Telephone: 0300 123 3393
• MND Association (Motor Neurone)
  • Providing early signs of MND, financial and benefit support and research funding.
  • Telephone: 0808 802 6262
• Mobilise
  • From finances to practical help, from mealtimes to continence, from hospital discharge to finding time for yourself.
• Muscular Dystrophy UK
  • Support isn’t one-size-fits-all, tailoring support to meet unique needs.
  • Telephone: 0800 652 6352
• Sense
  • Aiding families living with complex disabilities, including deaf blindness to seek helpful information, meaningful connections and accessible adventures.
• Sight for Surrey
  • An inclusive organisation dedicated to enabling and empowering people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, partially sighted and deafblind.
  • Telephone: 01372 377 701
• Surrey Independent Living Charity (SILC)
  • Provides information to enable people to live more independently. They also offer information for carers, such as the GP Carer Personal Health Budget (PHB).
• Surrey Family Information Service
  • Help and support with childcare, education and learning, family finance and SEND support.
• Stroke Association
  • The Stroke Support Helpline is here for you to understand behavioural, emotional or physical changes after a stroke and learning how to prevent strokes in later life.
  • Telephone: 0303 3033 100
• Support for carers | Surrey County Council
  • Essential information for unpaid carers in Surrey from local authority.
• Versus Arthritis
  • From information about arthritis conditions, or support for families and friends to local area information and research.
  • Telephone: 0300 790 0400
• Young Minds
  • Aiming to support young people’s mental health or wellbeing, with online or over the phone support including advice and support to parents or main carers of children including real life stories.
  • Parents Helpline: 0808 802 5544

Young adult carers are people aged 16 to 25 who care, unpaid, for a family member or friend with an illness or disability, mental health condition or an addiction.

• Carer Smart
  • Offers, benefits and discounts are available exclusively for carers and people with care needs.
• Carers Trust: Know Your Rights
  • Young and adult carers in England have the right to information and to assess the support they need from the council. This guide explains what those rights are. It also tells you what should happen when you talk to the council about being a young carer or young adult carer.

A young carer is someone under 18 who helps look after someone in their family, or a friend, who is ill, disabled or misuses drugs or alcohol.

• Carers Trust: Know Your Rights
  • Young and young adult carers in England have the right to information and assess the support they need from the council. This guide explains what those rights are. It also tells you what should happen when you talk to the council about being a young carer or young adult carer.
• Surrey Young Carers
  • If you are a young carer looking after a family member, there is a site for you, including their latest newsletter.
• Military Young Carers | X
  • Follow on X for updates on how Military Young Carers can access support in Surrey.

The feelings that carers experience as they go through their caring journey can be some of the most confusing and overwhelming they will ever encounter. For many, family and friends can help 'lend an ear' and be an invaluable resource in unburdening the emotional stresses that are caring invariably brings; the important thing is for the carer to have access to someone they can 'off load' to.

It's important to know that there are other options available, though. Confidential support offered by the local carers' services is an excellent place to start, but for some, having a professional counsellor may be a preferred option.

Counselling can help make sense of the role carers have, whether in specific areas such as dealing with bereavement or separation from a loved one or with the more general feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression.

If you are a carer and would like to explore the option of speaking to a counsellor, please talk to your GP in the first instance. Alternatively, the following organisations can provide help and guidance to find a counsellor local to where you live:

• Action for Carers Surrey
• British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
• British Psychological Society (BPS)
• Counselling Directory
• British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies

Resources and training for health professionals who support carers in Surrey

Employers, teachers, GPs, nurses and other professionals who contact carers and young carers during the working day can get support and training from the Action for Carers Surrey website.

Remember, you aren't on your own. Kim Jacobs, Surrey Joint Carers Programme Manager, will be happy to advise. You can email her at kim.jacobs@nhs.net