Support for Carers and Young Carers

A Carers Strategy for Dumfries and Galloway has been developed for all unpaid Carers of any age, living or caring for someone in Dumfries and Galloway and focuses on:

• Access to services
• Breaks from caring 
• Health and wellbeing
• Information and Advice
• Support

Download the Carers Strategy [PDF - 275KB]

The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 comes into force on 1 April 2018 introducing new rights for unpaid Carers and new duties for local councils and the NHS to provide support to Carers.

We are a Carer Positive Employer and recognise the importance of retaining experienced members of staff who find themselves in a caring role. Your employer may also have a policy in place to support carers.

Young Carers

Contact the Carers Centre about their Young Carers Project  if you're between 7 and 18 years old and look after someone. You can find information and support for any problems you have as well as having fun with other young Carers.

Young Carer Grant

Young Carer Grant is a yearly payment of £300 for young carers in Scotland.

To be able to get Young Carer Grant, you must:

• be 16, 17 or 18 years old
• have been caring for 1, 2 or 3 people for an average of 16 hours a week for at least the last 3 months

If you care for more than one person, you can combine the hours of the people you care for to average 16 hours a week.

Apply for a Young Carer Grant

Young Carers Statement

The Young Carers Statement enables Young Carers to express their feelings and needs, find out what impact their caring responsibilities have on their life and aims to support them in their caring role.

• Find out more about the Young Carers statement
• Call: 01387 248600

LGBT Carers

Being lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans gender and a Carer can bring additional issues and challenges. Carers may be anxious about accessing services and have concerns that they may not be LGBT friendly or be able to meet their needs.

• Find out more about support for LGBT Carers
• Call: 0800 020 9653 

Counselling Support for Carers

Counselling can help make sense of the new or ongoing role as a Carer. It offers a safe, confidential place in which to talk about life issues and problems that may be confusing, painful or uncomfortable.

• Find out more about counselling support for Carers
• Call: 01387 251 245

Carers looking after someone with a mental health illness

Mental illness can cause major disturbances in the way someone thinks, feels and behaves.  Caring for someone with a mental illness can be a stressful and isolating experience.  Support in Mind Scotland are a charity that believes anyone affected by mental illness deserves compassionate and expert support. 

They offer a confidential support and information service for Carers throughout Dumfries and Galloway.

• Call: 0300 323 1545
• Email dgcarers@supportinmindscotland.org.uk

When Caring Ends

Whatever the reason for the Carer's role ending, they may experience mixed emotions. They may feel guilty about being relieved that they can have their life back, but may also experience grief, emptiness and loneliness.

• Find out what support is available when caring ends
• Call: 0845 600 2227 

Training for Carers

The Care Training Consortium offers free short courses  throughout the year.

We can also provide a free guide to safely moving and handling of people.

• Call 01387 260935
• Email carers@dumgal.gov.uk

Other support

Dumfries and Galloway Carers Centre can provide a emergency card that identifies you as a Carer in the event of an emergency. The card is designed to give you peace of mind when you're away from the person you care for.

If you find it difficult to talk about your caring situation and to ask for support you might like help from the Dumfries and Galloway Advocacy Service .

If the person you care for is in hospital then you can contact the Hospital Carers Support coordinators .

Our Financial Inclusion and Assessment Team (FIAT) can review any benefits and check that you have all the financial support available.