Carers who support people who are living with mental ill health have worked closely with our Trust to address the needs of families and friends who worry about how the people they support will manage when they are no longer able to assist them.
The group of carers were led by Solihull resident, Gordon Percival who is a carer for his son. He recognised that there was a gap in the information and support available for carers and families. Gordon has worked with fellow carers, staff at the Trust and Stonham Carers Support, to produce a ‘Planning for the Future’ booklet that provides information on financial and legal matters, long term planning and how to make provision for emergencies.
Gordon said: “My wife and I are in our eighties and we started to worry about what will happen to our son when we are not in a position to help him.
“We started to develop a contingency plan ourselves, and all of the organising was a big learning curve for us and we wanted to share our learning with others.”
John Short, Chief Executive, BSMHFT is extremely supportive of the project: “We recognise the important role that carers, families and friends have in supporting our service users. ‘Planning for the Future’ is an excellent resource and we would like to thank Gordon for developing this idea, and the hard work and time that he has put into this publication.”
The Trust has received extremely positive feedback on ‘Planning for the Future’ from carers, of all ages. The project was funded by the Trust’s Charity ‘Caring Minds’.
Carers, friends and families are welcome to attend an event on’ Wednesday 6 June 10.00am – 1.00pm, at St Barnabas Church Centre, High Street, Erdington to find out more about ‘Planning for the Future’ Please email evie.hogshaw@nhs.net or call 0121 301 1389 to book your place.
For a free copy of the Planning for the Future booklet, please call the Trust’s Customer Relations Team on 0800 953 0045, or download a copy here.
