In November 2024 research published by Carers UK and the Centre for Care statistics sated that unpaid carers in the UK are providing care worth a £184.3 billion a year.
For almost 30 years ESBH Crossroads have provided an essential home respite service which allows unpaid carers to take a well-earned break from their caring responsibilities safe in the knowledge that our professional & skilled workers will take care of their loved one in their absence.
This gives a carer the reassurance and freedom to take time to focus on themselves, which will improve their mental health and wellbeing, reduce social isolation and help them to recharge, so that they can continue to care for and support their loved ones at home.
Carers may choose to meet friends, attend classes, pursue a hobby, participate in group activities, take exercise or just do the weekly shop. We even have carers who use our service so that they can engage in paid work or volunteer.
To support our regular respite service, Crossroads Care currently runs a crisis prevention programme. This provides 3 hours of free respite each week for a period of 6 weeks, where a carer is identified as at risk of experiencing a significant decline in their mental wellbeing and/or who is experiencing extreme social isolation due to their caring role.
We also have a crisis intervention programme, through which we provide an urgent period of free respite care for carers who are already experiencing a sharp decline in their mental health and wellbeing and/or extreme isolation, which is immediately impacting on their ability to care for their loved one or for those who are experiencing a breakdown of the caring relationship.
In providing this care, we prevent those cared for from having to enter a care facility and allowing them to stay at home in a familiar environment and be looked after by those who love them most.
Our crisis service is currently supported by our reserves, but this is not sustainable long term, meaning that we may have to reduce our provision of crisis care or stop offering this service completely if we cannot find the funding for it to continue.
The withdrawal of this vital additional support service will result in carer breakdown and the cared for being taken out of the family home and into residential care.
We hope to raise sufficient funding to allow us to continue to provide this free service for anyone who needs it.