Care 0 to 100 is set up as a new community and campaigning group in the UK because (to put it one way...) to NOT set it up became impossible! The need for care-mindful policies has never been greater. We hope to challenge people in decision-making positions to properly support ‘care-giving’ time. Our hope is that we can raise the bar, have conversations about CARE in the UK/worldwide - and secure policies that truly makes a difference in people’s day to day lives. It’s about Health, Education, Social Care and Community - and a lot more. It’s about everyone’s life at one time or another - giving and receiving care is part of what it means to live in a civilised society.
It’s also about changing the language of CARE so that it’s respected and celebrated as EQUAL life-enhancing activity in all ways.
This group intends to be an inter-generational group, bringing together the care of children (unpaid/under-supported), older people and indeed anyone we care about, whether at home or in our communities, 0 to 100. It also reaches out to people whose paid work is in the care/early years & childcare/social care or elder care sector. In this way it differs from other groups, because it recognises that ALL care is important regardless of age. It’s a campaign with a ‘lifelong’ perspective, recognising that people care in different ways across their lifetimes.
Not only is the importance of CARE not reflected in policies but also it’s conspicuous by its absence in media coverage. Often caregivers find themselves without a voice and (largely due to the nature of what’s involved) it can also be difficult to find supportive community.
People say they would like a kinder and fairer world and agree that there’s no greater contribution we can make that when we’re caregiving, yet it’s taken for granted as if it doesn’t ‘count’. In reality not everything that counts /matters in life can easily be counted in GDP (£) , but perhaps it’s time for GDP to include a measure of the value of caregiving work.
Also it’s about caregivers having a VOICE - it’s clear that people’s voices, young and old, at home and in work, needs to be more clearly HEARD and respected. And for people to work more closely together, rather than being artificially separated by age.
We may not realise it yet, but many of us will provide care for others during our lifetime and all of us absolutely depend on care at certain points - in childhood, in ill health or older age.
About me:
I am a mum of four, a sister, a daughter, friend, niece and campaigner (with elderly relatives I help to support). I have a background in Social Policy and Research, campaigning and community/voluntary work, In recent years I became increasingly aware of the lack of a ‘umbrella-platform’ for caregiving individuals, whether unpaid, invisible- or indeed people who care for others for a living but who are sadly paid a shockingly low hourly rate.
My background after graduating (and before starting a family) was in Qualitative Research (depth interviews and focus groups). I then studied and worked in Social Policy and have been campaigning for some 20 years, attending conferences, workshops etc . I am usually the one on the side who asks the question ‘What about Care?’ People come up to me in the break to say ‘What you said is so true....’ They often open up about their own caregiving experiences.
I am non party political and non faith based in my work. In recent years I qualified to work as a teacher in Early Years. In my spare time I volunteer on wards in my local hospital with elderly patients. In previous years I’ve volunteered for other charities, including art therapy with dementia patients, supporting young families (for example providing transport to hospital and GP appointments etc) and I’ve helped run parenting support groups (qualifying through the Open College Network). My work has straddled different age groups from babies to people in older age: I have worked with young children with autism - and I also spent some years in Social Research interviewing teenagers without employment who struggle to gain their independence. I was a voluntary home -visitor for some years in London, visiting elderly individuals without family nearby. Loneliness and lack of connection seems to be a growing issue, so the voluntary sector often makes a big difference.
I studied Languages at University in the UK, but I’ve also been privileged to live and work in other countries. I am currently on the board of a Europe-wide campaigning group (FEFAF) that stands up for invisible unpaid care work. We scrutinise policy documents and we campaign to ensure that the work of caregiving is not forgotten. This involves attending policy meetings, making recommendations about ‘care’ policies. I have also worked with Mothers At Home Matter Too which campaigns for better recognition when mothers are caring for children, however long or short that period might be.
Join Care 0 to 100 to try to establish a forum for better recognition of what people do when they’re busy CARING. Not all caring can be contracted out to others. Unpaid, invisible family work really matters and should be supported with better fiscal/welfare policies. more flexible employment etc . But it also matters that people are properly rewarded and appreciated and respected in paid caring work. How we treat our caregivers should reflect the kind of society we want for future generations.