A North East-based carer has claimed many of those being controversially asked to return Carer’s Allowance overpayments to the authorities are “paying for the government’s mistakes”. In a week when the BBC shone a light on the impact the Department for Work and Pensions’ retrieval methods are having up and down the country, unpaid carers …
A leading North East advocate for people with neurological conditions has accused the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of penalising unpaid carers who look after their loved ones and setting them up to fail. Carers from across the region are being forced to repay the government after breaking earning rules set by the DWP, …
Until recently, Jake Mather was one of many carers across South Tyneside that live in what he calls a ‘grey area’ — unpaid, unidentified but unswervingly dedicated to looking after close family members. His older brother Brett has Down’s Syndrome, while mother Gillian, also an unpaid carer, suffers from Multiple Sclerosis. For Jake — a …
A 75-minute drive from Newcastle up the A1 and then the A697 will take you to Cornhill-on-Tweed in north Northumberland. There’s a roundabout on the outskirts of the village where the A697 and A698 meet. Take the first left and you’ll find yourself driving up Cornhill’s Main Street past the Collingwood Arms Hotel, the shop …
Amanda Suddes is sat in her kitchen clasping a mug depicting Charles M. Schulz’s famous cartoon beagle, Snoopy, alongside the phrase ‘just be happy’. Given the topic under discussion, it’s hard to think of three less appropriate words to sum up her current feelings. She’s chatting about her late mother and father, Mary and Bob …
Ask Caitlin Evans what she believes is the biggest issue currently facing the social care sector, not just in England but across the UK, and her answer is emphatic: a chronic shortage of staff. Low pay, insufficient funding, inadequate training, stress, and a lack of understanding and appreciation amongst many employers and the public of …
“It is often said that you can judge societies on how they treat the least well off and the weakest, and I think we have got to a point where we are doing, very, very badly as a country when we are unable to provide any level of sufficient care to those people who need …
A month before my eldest son was born my father suffered a stroke. It came out of the blue, and left my dad a shadow of the man he had once been. Born in 1922, he had joined the RAF on his 18th birthday in April 1940, spurred on to enlist out of both patriotism, …
North East entrepreneur Louise Thompson never dreamed she would grow up to win an innovation award for her own business. Louise, 55, found herself caring for both her parents in recent years and struggled to cope when it came to securing trained staff to help with daily chores in the home. Following her experiences, she …
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