Earlier this week the Health Social Care & Well Being Overview & Scrutiny Board began its review of how the Council and its partners support carers in Swansea. On Tuesday councillors met Shirley Bowen, Director at Swansea Carers’ Centre and Val Walker, Locality Director at the Alzheimer’s Society. The councillors wanted to understand how these two important organisations work with the Council and health partners to identify and support carers.
The councillors learned that between them these 2 voluntary organisations provide huge amounts of support to carers, this can be in the form of welfare and benefits advice, counselling, peer support groups, day activities groups, providing information, short respite breaks, home support services and day care.
The councillors also learned that while there had been no increase in the funding from the Council over the last 2 years the stability of a 5-year Service Level Agreement for the Carers Centre and a 3-year Service Level agreement for the Alzheimers Society had helped each organisation to develop services. Shirley Bowen from the Carers’ Centre said that without this level of stability she doubted whether her organisation would have been successful in bidding for recent funding from the Big Lottery Fund.
What the councillors were really surprised to learn was that the Carers Centre did not receive any funding from the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board. This is something that the councillors will pick up with health colleagues when they meet them in the new year.
The councillors found this evidence gathering session with Shirley and Val very useful and were really pleased to have had the opportunity to engage these valuable organisations in the review.
The councillors will meet with the Cabinet Member, the Corporate Director and Health colleagues early on in the new year.
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