This Carers Week, let’s recognise and celebrate the incredible contribution unpaid carers make every day across Essex and the UK.
Carers Week is an annual campaign dedicated to raising awareness of caring, recognising the challenges unpaid carers face, and helping people access the support, services, and community connections available to them.
The Essex Map is a free community directory designed to help people find local support services, wellbeing activities, advice organisations, community groups, and carers’ support across Essex.
Whether you’re:
💙 An unpaid carer looking for support or local services ☕ Searching for community groups, advice sessions, or wellbeing activities 🤝 Wanting to connect with others who understand caring responsibilities 📍 Looking for local organisations offering support for carers and families 🏡 Or part of a service supporting carers in your community
…the Essex Map can help people find the support they need.
Are you an organisation supporting carers?
From advice services and respite support to wellbeing groups, community activities, and information sessions — you can add your service or organisation to the map for free and help carers across Essex connect with local support.
As part of Carers Week, Essex County Council are working with carers organisations to host webinars to highlight the importance of carer identification and early support offers available to carers. Your team may play a vital role in this. These webinars are aimed at all front-line practitioners and services working across Essex.
Support for young carers: Monday 9th June 10:00 – 10:30am
Young carers often balance their school and social lives with their caring duties and that can have a huge impact. The Essex Young Carers Service work with partner organisations to provide support to young carers in Essex to navigate school, work and life. This webinar by the Youth Service will cover the support available to young carers and where you as a professional can signpost/refer young carers.Support for adult carers: Tuesday 10th June 10:00 – 10:30am
The physical and mental health of carers can be significantly impacted by the demands of their caring role, with many experiencing stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness, often leading to burnout and a decline in their overall well-being. This webinar by Action for Family Carers, Carers First, Essex Wellbeing Service and Adult Social Care Connects will give an overview of some of the organisations supporting carers across Essex so that you can be more confident in identifying carers and then signposting/referring to specialist support available.
Supporting carers of people with dementia: Wednesday 11th June 10:00-10:30am
Supporting dementia carers is crucial because they often experience significant stress, isolation, and emotional strain. When carers are well-supported, they can provide better care, feel better in themselves, and are more likely to continue caring. This webinar by Alzheimer’s Society will raise awareness of some of the challenges carers supporting people with dementia experience, along with examples of some of the key places you can refer/signpost carers too for support.
Advocacy support for carers: Thursday 12th June 11:30am – 12:00pm
Carers may not know what help to ask for, how to ask, or indeed who to ask. Services are available to support carers to understand their options, make informed choices and decisions about their caring role and be heard when they face a challenge or issue. This webinar by Voiceability will raise awareness of some of the challenges carers experience with themselves and/or those they care for not having their views heard, and provide information on how to access for carers you support who might need this service.
Employers support for carers: Friday 13th June 1 – 2pm
Supporting carers to continue providing care and to participate in everyday life through employment is in everyone’s best interest. Employers have a responsibility to develop an inclusive workplace where carers are enabled to work, recognised, respected and supported, which helps to retain valued members of staff. This webinar by Employers for Carers will cover things employers should consider to support carers in the workforce, including tools and resource templates available.
