 |
|
 |
 |
The advocacy, benefits advice and outreach project provides support to carers in order to improve their health, economic well-being and overall quality of life through access to financial benefits and allowances. It also advocates for carers to “have a voice” in local service planning by being representatives on partnership boards and consultation groups and empowers carers to make a positive contribution in the community.
We adhere to the Code of Practice for advocates which is available on request and can be downloaded below.
Our Support and Outreach workers provide:
- Emotional support on the telephone and face to face
- Advice and support in claiming welfare benefits for the carer and the cared for person
- Advocacy to support a carer in accessing services for themselves and the person that they care for
- Campaigning for carers rights to enable carers to obtain the statutory support that they care entitled to
- Partnership working with statutory authorities to help them deliver better services for carers
- Advice about carers assessments
- Help with filling in benefits application forms including Attendance Allowance, Carers Allowance, Income Support and Income based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit
You can view and download a project leaflet including a short tear off registration form below.
HC Advocacy and Outreach Project
How we meet the needs of Harrow’s diverse and multicultural community.
Carers are not a homogeneous group and have different individual needs. They are often disadvantaged due to their caring role, and it is very important to consider a Carer’s individual situation and their ability to ask for and accept services. Many Carers feel isolated,
are unable to find support and feel loss of identity as a direct result of caring role.
This is acutely obvious with carers from BAME communities where there may be cultural and religious requirements that need to be considered. BAME carers may also suffer from higher levels of social economic disadvantages, with some of the newer arrivals making up quite small and often isolated groups.
The word Carer does not exist among many black and minority ethnic communities. They see
themselves as the parent, son, daughter, etc. who looks after a relative who needs care due to
sickness or disability.
Some of the different issues faced by BAME communities are:
- Communication difficulties, including language barriers
- Lack of understanding of the health and social care system
- Lack of culturally appropriate and responsive services
We aim to meet the needs of Carers in a culturally rich and diverse Harrow, e.g.
- One to one support including home visits
- Contact with Social Services
- Assistance with Carers Assessments and other meetings
- Support with all aspects of Personal Budgets
- Benefits Advice
- Providing information about and making referrals to other agencies
Our Support and Outreach Workers speak Gujarati and Hindi. We try to find interpreters for other languages.
——————————————————————————————————–
We speak for or act on behalf of our carer’s when dealing with complaints or applying for appropriate benefits. We assist in the completion of forms that a carer may find too daunting, attending meetings to support carer’s, accompanying carer’s to hospital discharge meetings and helping carer’s to arrange care packages.
We provide home visits or appointments at the centre to discuss carer’s needs which can range from complaints procedures, benefits advice, form filling to grant applications. We deal with housing issues, anything from an on-going maintenance problem to an eviction.
We understand that form filling can be onerous and an added worry or pressure to carer’s.
Benefits
There are a number of benefits which you, the carer and the person you care for, may be entitled to, some we have listed below.
As the benefit system is so complex, Harrow Carers Centre will help and assist you either to explain the benefits you may be entitled to or assist you in completing the necessary claim forms.
These Include:-
- Attendance Allowance
- Budgeting Loan
- Carers Allowance
- Child Tax Credits
- Cold Weather Payments
- Community Care Grant
- Council Tax Benefits
- Crisis Loan
- Disability Living Allowance
- Funeral Payments
- Housing Benefits
- Income Support
- Working Tax Credits
Please contact:
Bunny Gaughan, email address: bunny.gaughan@harrowcarers.org
Tel: 020 8868 5224
We support carer’s with any issues which may affect their caring role and signpost them to other voluntary and statutory organisations where appropriate.
A carers quote
“Harrow Carers are an absolute godsend; they have improved my life and my husbands, both in quality and financially”.
Useful links:
