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Carers Trust has been shortlisted to become the charity partner of two Deloitte UK offices in London - Financial Advisory and Internal Client Services.
It’s an amazing opportunity, which would allow us to kick start a totally new “Working for Carers” programme for unemployed carers in the London area. Staff will get the opportunity to vote for their favourite charity on the shortlist, so if you know anyone at Deloitte please do tell them about our great work! If you work for one of these offices and are visiting our website because of the vote – thank you for taking the time to find out more about Carers Trust.
Caring for a friend or family member with an illness, disability, mental health problem or addiction can be so challenging and carers can find they sacrifice their own health, wellbeing and personal dreams for the sake of their loved ones. This often includes sacrificing a career to care: the employment rate for carers is at 67% and over half of those who are not working say that they want to do so.
That’s where the Working for Carers programme comes in:
We will help carers who are willing and able to get back into employment. 1 in 5 carers have to give up work to care and this programme is about positively supporting carers to get back to work if they want to do that. A partnership with Deloitte UK will fund employability and skills training workshops for groups of carers across London to improve their confidence, skills and chances of accessing employment.
A partnership would also fund small grants for carers in London for things like work clothes, travel costs to attend interviews or the first month’s travel card once a carer finds work. These are financial barriers that the skills training workshops don’t address and will ensure carers are able to grasp employment opportunities offered to them.
The project will be led by Carers Trust and delivered in partnership with local carers’ organisations across London.
Carers Trust would be honoured to partner with Deloitte UK to run this programme and we also believe that we’re a great fit. Deloitte already demonstrate a commitment to supporting their own workforce through flexible working initiatives like their WorkAgility, Working Parents Transitions and “Return to Work” programmes that have just been nominated at the 2016 Top Employers for Working Families Special Awards.
A partnership with Carers Trust, would enhance Deloitte’s existing commitments to family carers and signpost carers within their workplace to our vital support services. Plus, we’ve already had some success working with Deloitte volunteers, who were a huge help supporting us to lead several workshops to help young adult carers get into employment, education or training.
Together, Deloitte UK and Carers Trust can Work for Carers. Together we can raise awareness of unpaid carers and ensure that carers are supported to get back to work if they wish to do that.
If you know anyone who works for Deloitte UK in London’s Financial Advisory and Internal Client Services offices, please encourage them to vote for Carers Trust! Voting takes place from the end of April and employees just need to look out for a communication from Deloitte UK and follow the instructions to vote. If you’d like to find out more about Carers Trust, or our programme please contact lflandrin@carers.org.