Carers of West Lothian

We're so honoured to have been the most voted for project of the Tesco Stronger Starts in Bathgate! Thank you to everyone who casted their votes in store over the recent months, we truly appreciate your support. The team are looking forward to using the grant money to provide extra support to our young carer groups, stay tuned to see what we have in mind! #TescoStrongerStarts

Powerful report by Carers Scotland stating the need for more support to help unpaid carers balance their paid work and caring role. Recommendations include introducing at least 5 days of paid Carer’s Leave, understanding the challenges faced by your workforce and a Minimum Income Guarantee pilot for unpaid carers. Check out the report below ⬇️

Have you had a look at our Memory Information Support Booklet yet? If you're looking after someone with memory issues, or know someone who is, this resource is a helpful guide with information, advice, local support and more! Our centrefold hosts 'The Memory Issue Journey' with information about what to do at every step of your caring journey. You can read more about our booklet, and download your own copy on our website: https://lnkd.in/e5ABGU3w

The Memory Information Support Team (MIST) at CoWL are proud to officially launch our 'Memory Information Support Booklet' Created alongside our MIST partners OPAL, West Lothian Food Train and NHS Lothian with special help from the amazing Professor June A., we hope that the resource will be a helping hand to anyone who may support or care for a family member, friend or member of your local community experiencing memory difficulties. The aim of the booklet is to help those living in West Lothian to provide an awareness of what memory difficulties may look like, and what local support is available. Read more and download your own copy on our website: https://lnkd.in/e5ABGU3w

As of today, Carers of West Lothian have made the decision to deactivate our X (formerly known as Twitter) account. The X platform is no longer consistent with our values as charitable organisation. We will continue to update and monitor our Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts. If you’d like to contact us directly, you can email us at support@carers-westlothian.com

West Lothian Carers Survey 2024/25 is now open! Unpaid carers are invited to share their experiences to help shape future support in West Lothian. The survey is anonymous and only takes a few minutes. Take the survey here: https://lnkd.in/ek8F2-fc Make your voice heard! 💙

Through our partnership with the Advice Shop at West Lothian Council, we have helped unpaid carers and disabled people secure £314,205 in financial gains within the last 3 months. This is a massive increase of nearly £60,000 from the last quarter! Our invaluable clinics with The Advice Shop help our service users maximise their income through finding out what benefits and grants they may be entitled to, aid them with any redeterminations or appeals as well as enquire about other quality of life improvements such as Blue Badge enquiries.

The CoWL team would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! 2024 was a great year for CoWL, where we supported over 1,900 adult carers, 265 young carers and 138 disabled people. As well as working alongside some amazing partners, volunteers and our board. We'd love to go even further in 2025, supporting more people than ever!

Our very busy elves were busy last week zipping around West Lothian delivering presents to those who need them the most! With a huge thank you to Cash for Kids and River Kids Children's Charity for all the donations, as well as Morrisons Bathgate for the chocolates and sweeties! We managed to deliver presents to 103 kids in 48 different households.

As the team finish up their work before Christmas, we'd like to take the time to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! We hope that everyone has a lovely, well-deserved break, and remember to treat yourself!