Trust shows it cares for carers with garden event
In conjunction with Carers Week, which ran from 9 – 15 June 2014, the Trust put carers in the centre and held a special event to celebrate the invaluable support they provide to service users.
The event, which welcomed service users and carers to Fieldhead’s caring garden in Wakefield, offered a host of activities including food tasting with the Trust’s health and wellbeing team, creative art sessions with the Trust’s Creative Minds partner Inspire, and guided tours of the garden’s unique labyrinth.
The Trust also reaffirmed its ‘commitment to carers’ by launching posters and postcards displaying a series of ten pledges outlining the level of service that carers can expect from the Trust.
Through the commitment to carers, the Trust promises to listen to and respect carers, involve them as much as possible in the care and treatment of the person they are caring for, and signpost them to useful help and services to support them in their caring role.
Deputy chief executive Alex Farrell opened the event and addressed the group, saying: “It’s fantastic to see so many people here today involved in working with the Trust and all the incredible things people have achieved.
“As a Trust, we are committed to helping our service users and carers to reach their full potential and I am really pleased to welcome everyone here today. Thank you for coming and for all the work you do.”
Service users and carers also had the chance to meet the Trust’s partners at the event, with organisations such as Carers Wakefield and District – who provide support to carers throughout the Wakefield district – in attendance.
Local Janet Prince, who cares for her husband, said: “I’ve seen things improve a lot in the last 15 years since I first became a carer. I do like events like this which give you an opportunity to meet new staff.”
Wellbeing nurse Sheila Passmore from Spectrum Community Health CIC sang the praises of the caring garden, saying: “The caring garden is great for our clients who we bring twice a week and help them tend to the Spectrum patch. They really do get a lot from it as a lot of them are socially isolated – they come in small groups and help each other out.”
Yasmin Arshad, equality and inclusion team support worker, said: “The Caring Garden Steering Group, which consists of staff members, our partners, service users and carers, suggested at their last meeting that Carers Week should be celebrated on the caring garden. We thought it was a great idea, so the Wakefield equality and inclusion team set up the event to promote the Trust’s ‘commitment to carers’ and give service users and carers a chance to meet our staff and partners.
“It is lovely to see so many service users from our wards turning out to show their support.”
View the Trust’s commitment to carers in full on the website.