Community Group of the Year nominee – North Staffs Carers Association

Community Group of the Year nominee – North Staffs Carers Association

North Staffs Carers Association supported 750 adult carers last year and worked with many young carers.

The Fenton-based charity, which was established in 1987, ran outreach groups across North Staffordshire attended by 1260 people.

“We have 30 volunteers and 14 members of staff, only three of whom work full-time,” said CEO Julie Hammersley. “We’re a little team but we do a lot of work.”

The support Julie and her team offer ranges from one-to-one sessions and peer support to advice about benefits and wellbeing services.

“We do work closely with a lot of organisations within North Staffordshire but the difference is that our remit is to put carers first,” said Julie.

“A lot of carers aren’t recognised, it’s just something that they do on a daily basis. They’ll say they’re just looking after their family member, but who would do it if they didn’t. It’s important that we raise awareness of carers’ issues.”

North Staffs Carers Association has been nominated in the Community Group of the Year category of the Your Heroes Awards by Anna Capper.

She said: “North Staffs Carers go above and beyond to offer a range of support groups and activity groups to unpaid carers and their families.

“Supporting carers from aged five years upwards, in the last 12 months they have vastly expanded the groups and taken them all over Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire to reach carers who may not be able to travel.

“The groups offer support, advice and friendship for those on the caring journey.”

Julie said she is very proud that her team has been nominated for an award.

She added: “This is amazing. We work with a lot of carers who go on to become volunteers themselves in time. Our groups are all about helping people to find themselves again and do things they thought they’d never do again.”