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The Carers Association National Conference Friday 7th May 2010

Our National Conference takes place on Friday 7th of May at the Croke Park Conference Centre, Dublin. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Under the Radar—a Focus on Young Carers and Support Mechanisms’.

In Towards 2016 Government committed to commission a study on the extent to which children and young people undertake inappropriate caring roles and to establish a programme of in home supports to alleviate the specific issues identified. In 2008, the Child and Family Research Centre in NUIG were commissioned by the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to undertake this study.

The Conference will:

• Launch the national study on Young Carers
• Present the findings of the study on Young Carers and explore the impact that caring has had on their lives
• Explore International Research, policy and practises
• Provide forum for the exchange of ideas & best practises

Conference may be of interest to:

• Young Carers, Adult Carers and their families
• Policy makers involved in guiding the strategic direction of care in the community
• Education providers
• Voluntary & Statutory agencies involved in provision of care in the home
• Organisations involved in supporting Young People
• Researchers & Academics interested in the care of people in their homes and communities.

To Book your place Contact

Lee Anne Greville on 057-9370218 or Email lgreville@carersireland.com

New Outreach and Training Facilitation Service—Mayo

The Carers Association is delighted to announce the commencement of a new Outreach and Training facilitation Service in Co. Mayo. This is a 2 year project, sponsored by Baxter International Foundation. Our new Training and Outreach facilitator is Eileen McNamara.

The objectives of this service are to identify the needs of Family Carers and Young Carers in Mayo and raise awareness of the work Family Carers carry out. The new service will provide quality accredited Home Care Skills training and other training courses to family Carers. Information sessions will be held throughout the county and support groups will be established. The new service will enable Mayo’s Family Carers establish a voice on a national level through membership of The Carers Association.

Please contact Eileen for further details or if you are interested in Training/Info: Eileen McNamara, Co. Mayo Outreach & Training Facilitator, Currane, Achill, Co. Mayo.

Tel: 086 3775702
Fax: 098-20889
Email: carersmayo@carersireland.com

Reminder for Carers in Receipt of Carers Payments

Carers must inform the Revenue Commissioners of any change in their circumstances that may affect their tax liability. It is therefore important that Carers contact Revenue directly when they have been awarded a Carer payment or when any other change occurs in their household income.

Carers Week 14th—20th June 2010

Plans are currently underway across the country in all our Resource Centres for Carers Week which takes place from 14th—20th June 2010. Stay tuned to www.carersireland.com and contact your local Carers Resource Centre nearer to the time for activities taking place in your area. List of Carers Resource Centre Numbers are at the end of this Newsletter.

Access, Care and Mobility Expo - June 11th & 12th 2010

The Access, Care and Mobility Expo takes place on Friday 11th and Saturday 12th of June in the new National Convention Centre, Citywest Hotel, Dublin. Now in its 8th Year, the Expo has become an important event in the calendar of events for the disability sector. This event would be of particular interest to people with limited mobility, family Carers and healthcare professionals. Admission is free and the Expo is open from 10am—5pm each day. The Carers Association will have a stand at the Expo, providing information and inviting people to become a Member of the Association. Go to www.accessandmobility.ie for further details.

Membership Services

Join The Carers Association Today!

Now more than ever your voice matters. A strong membership is vital to achieve our vision of a better life for family Carers. We are calling on Ireland’s family Carers and those interested in the issues family Carers face to join our Membership and have your voice heard by helping us campaign for better supports, equality and ultimately a better quality of life for family Carers.

Joining is simple, contact our Membership Officer, Karen Phelan on 056-7753600, join online at www.carersireland.com, phone our free phone Care Line 1800 24 07 24 or call your local Carers Resource Centre to request a Membership Application Form.

Membership is €25 for 5 years which includes a renewable discount card on goods and services across Ireland. We will keep you up to date on our services, community activities, training courses and events. Through your involvement with us, we will listen and advocate on the issues that affect family Carers in Ireland. If you are already a member, please invite a carer or someone interested in the issues facing family Carers to join and add their voice to our Membership Campaign.

Renew your Membership Discount Card

If you are an existing Member and you would like to renew your Membership Discount Card please contact our Membership Officer, Karen Phelan. Your discount card is valid for one year from date of joining and costs €10 to renew to avail of new discounts and special offers.

We will send you out an updated booklet with new special offers which include a fantastic offer from Dunnes Stores.

To renew your Discount Card contact Karen Phelan, The Carers Association, Priors Orchard, Johns Quay, Kilkenny.

Phone: 056-7753600
Email: kphelan@carersireland.com

Find us on Facebook!!

The Carers Association is now on Facebook!! Become a fan of The Carers Association today on Facebook and join other family Carers and supporters of The Carers Association. Our page is updated regularly and we encourage family Carers to discuss caring issues through our discussion boards.

Fundraising News

Walk, Jog, Run, Amble, Waddle, Toddle with us for services and resource centres!

The Carers Association's 10k Mini Marathons and the Dublin Women’s Mini Marathon are coming up! Please consider walking or running for us and collect vital sponsorship to keep local services operating and the resource centres’ doors open. Did we mention how much fun it is even to amble along? So, the more the merrier, bring friends and family along and enjoy the afternoon with us. Registration is €12.

Bank Holiday Monday, May 3rd Kilkenny, Roscommon & Sligo — 3PM

Kilkenny Mini Marathon leaves from the Days Hotel, Kilkenny. Register at www.carersireland.com or contact Pat at 056 7721424

Roscommon Mini Marathon leaves from the Hannon’s Hotel car park. Register at www.carersireland.com or contact Bernie at 090 6489296

Sligo Mini Marathon leaves from the Radisson Hotel and goes out to lovely Rosses Point. Register at www.carersireland.com or call Nick at 071 9143123.

Bank Holiday Monday June 7th Flora Dublin Women’s Mini Marathon — 3PM

Calling all the ladies! Flora Dublin Women’s Mini Marathon leaves from Fitzwilliam Square at 3pm. You must register with Flora at www.womensminimarathon.ie or the coupon in the Evening Herald on Wednesday and Saturday to get your race number! If you’re planning to participate, please register online at www.carersireland.com or contact Emma at 0579370210 for a sponsorship card.

Woof Woof! The National Dog Walk 2010 is a great success.

Sincere appreciation and gratitude goes out to all staff, volunteers and hundreds of participants and dogs for your kind support of the first National Dog Walk on Easter Monday April 5th. We all had a fantastic day, the weather cooperated, the atmosphere was wonderful, and the charming sight of so many happy people and dogs enjoying their walk through town was appreciated all around the land. Special thanks to the staff of our partners in the event, Petmania and the O’Keeffe’s group of Kilkenny, whose generosity of spirit and commitment to this project has helped to raise €22,000 - and the total is rising daily.

Come away with us to Italy...

Beautiful Lake Garda, Verona and Venice await you as our International Walk volunteers explore the best of the Veneto Region October 23 - 30th 2010. Let us help you raise €2,990 to support our services for family Carers and come away with us to Italy. Call Annette at 086 8393964 for more details.

Training News

The purpose of the Dormant Accounts Training for Carers Measure is to provide funding for locally based training programmes for family carers. The training programmes are aimed at providing family Carers with the skills necessary to provide the best care possible to their loved ones, reduce risk of injury to the Carer and help Carers cope with the emotional, psychological and physical aspects of the caring role. If you are a family Carer and feel that you or your family members would benefit from any of the following training please do not hesitate in contacting us.

Some of the training planned is as follows

Stress Management Workshops—a must for every Carer! FETAC Level 5 Practical Home Care Skills Training City & Guilds Care in the Home Training Patient Moving & Handling Training

Other information sessions which might be of interest: -

• Rights and Entitlements
• Basic First Aid & Emergencies
• Managing Challenging Behaviour
• Fire Safety
• Understanding Dementia
• Nutrition
• Food Hygiene
• Continence Management
• And many more….

Please take advantage of this unique opportunity to avail of this training. Contact Sharon or Laura in the Training Unit on 057-9322920 or email training@carersireland.com to receive a Registration Form and further details.

This project was approved by Government with support from Dormant Accounts Funds.

Check out www.carersireland.com—”Training Unit” section for information on all our Training Courses. The Training Unit section of our website is updated regularly and online enquiries can also be made through the website.

Our Mullingar Carers Resource Centre Has Moved Address…..

Our Mullingar Carers Resource Centre has moved. The new address is: 5 St. Johns Terrace, Blackhall, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath

Tel: 044-9347922
Email: carersmullingar@carersireland.com

The Carers Association meet with the Joint Committee on Social and Family Affairs and the Committee in Finance and the Public Service

On February 17th The Carers Association met with the Joint Committee on Social and Family Affairs to present our analysis of Budget 2010 and its likely impact on Irelands 161,000 Carers. While the Association welcomed Governments decision to retain the Half Rate Carers Allowance, we emphasised our concern that Carers will simply be unable to cope as reductions to the benefits and supports they rely on such as Carers Allowance, Carers Benefit, Child Benefit, Qualified Adult Allowances, the loss of the Christmas Bonus, the introduction of the Carbon Tax, prescription charges on medical card holders and the increase to €120 in the monthly Drug Payment Scheme begin to take their toll.

The Association reiterated these issues again when we met the Joint Committee on Finance and Public Services on March 31st. During the meeting the Association urged Committee members that priorities for expenditure be aligned to the evidenced needs of Family Carers. Investment in social welfare supports, health services, education/training, and strategies to improve the socio-economic wellbeing of Carers, as well as the publication of the National Carers Strategy must remain a priority.

Behaviours as an Expression of Communication in Dementia — Annual Sonas aPc Conference Tuesday 11th May 2010

This Conference will explore the causes and behaviours that are associated with Dementia and the opportunities for engagement that they present. It will be of great interest to family Carers. The aim of the day is to provide a stimulating, enjoyable and practical relevance to those who are providing care to older people who have dementia in Ireland. The speakers are national and international experts in the field of dementia care.

The Conference takes place on Tuesday 11th of May at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin. For further details or to request a booking form please contact: Sonas aPc, St. Mary’s, 201 Merrion Road, Dublin 4

Tel: 01 260 8138
Email: sonasapc@iol.ie
Web: www.sonasapc.ie

Resource Centre in Review—Clonmel Resource Centre

The Carers Association in Clonmel first opened its doors on the 2nd of January 2000 and is based at 8 Sarsfield Street, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. The Centre Manager is Richie Molloy who works alongside two part time clerical assistants, Mary Butler, who has been with the Association for over three years and a new clerical assistant Avril Makim is joining the Clonmel centre under the FAS CE scheme. The centre also employs 10 part-time Home Respite Workers. Contact the centre by

Phone 052-6170454
Email carersclonmel@carersireland.com

Respite Breaks from Dormant Accounts

The centre successfully applied for Dormant Account funding for weekend breaks for Family Carers and was fortunate to receive €48,000 which has been spent over the last two years sending Carers on much needed breaks, the latest presentation of weekend breaks took place in Hotel Minella in February of this year and the presentation was made by the Minister of State for Health John Moloney and Mayor of Clonmel Cllr Denis Dunne.

Late Late Show & St. Patrick's Day

The Clonmel Centre was delighted when local Family Carer May Denmead appeared on the Late Late Show with in February and spoke warmly about her caring role. St Patrick's day saw a big entry from Clonmel Carers who pushed a hospital bed through the streets of Clonmel with none other than St Patrick himself in the bed who needed a bit of care himself !!!!

Support Groups & Information Sessions

The Clonmel centre has two Carer Support Groups. The Clonmel group meet on the first Wednesday of every month in the Cluain Training Centre at 11.00 am and the Carrick on Suir Carers Group meet on the second Tuesday of every month at 11.00 in the Nano Nagle Centre in Carrick on Suir. Everyone is welcome to come along. The centre also holds an Information Session on the first Friday of every month in the Civic Offices in Cashel for 3.00pm to 4.00 pm.

Training Courses

Training is a big part of the Clonmel Centres activity and funding has been received to run a first aid course for Carers starting on 26th April and also a Stress Management course in May followed by a care in the course in July.

Fundraising News

Fundraising is a big part of the Clonmel Centre activities. A very successful Easter Egg Hunt was held on Easter Monday with over 120 children taking part. An Irish music night is planned for Thursday 29th July which has been running for the last three years and has proved a great success with Carers coming along for a great night out. Church gate collections take place for the Clonmel Resource Centre in November for Clonmel , Carrick on Suir and Cashel.

Contact Your Nearest Resource Centre