Our support for carers has keep going throughout the COVID 19 crisis and in addition to the information, advice and emotional support, we’ve continued to offer online events with carer wellbeing as our priority.

Here, our long standing volunteer and all round crafting superhero Karen, tells us about the vital work she’s been doing to help us support carers through this difficult time.

Hello everyone,

In these trying times we are all striving to find a way to keep our minds occupied and keep our mental health in tip top condition. This is not always easy when faced with months of lockdown and the day to day worry that Covid-19 brings with it.

So, I decided to see if we could take our monthly creative carers online and help carers keep their hands and minds busy. We started doing zoom sessions in July with a tour of Pinterest and how it can give you ideas for making crafts at home. I will not lie and say it was an easy thing to do and there has been a steep learning curve both for me and those who join the sessions each month.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the sessions so far and although it has mainly been about “what you can find on the web” we are venturing into the unknown in November with our first online craft session where participants will be making essential oil diffuser Christmas ribbon trees. We will be sending out packs to carers who register for the session and then hopefully people will be able to work their way through making these while we all are online having our usual chat etc.

One thing that has not changed with our creative carers sessions is the laughter! Every session seems to have its own joyful moments and people always seem to go away with a smile on their faces at the end. As a volunteer, it gives me great joy to see people immerse themselves in these sessions and get away from the stresses and strains of their caring role even for an hour or so. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing people at the end of the session go away smiling and with some new skills.

I have no idea when we will be able to meet up in person again but in the meantime, it is my pleasure to keep people connected through crafts.

Karen Lewis

To get involved in the next creative carers session, visit our events page here