Whether juggling family and work commitments to provide care a few hours a week, or caring 24 hours each day, if you provide regular help and support to a partner, relative or friend because they cannot manage without your help, then Carers Link is here for you.
In East Dunbartonshire 1 Person in 8 is a Carer.
Support from Carers Link is not just for the parents. You may be visiting this website because you are a grandparent (or any other family member) with a grandchild who has additional support needs. You may be helping to look after them or you may feel powerless to do anything. Remember that your feelings or frustrations are just as valid, and that it may be useful to talk to someone outwith the family or to share these with other grandparents who may have similar experiences.
If a looked-after child cannot live with their birth parents, for however long or short a period, they can be placed by the local authority with family or friends under ‘kinship care’.
A Kinship Carer is 'a person who is related to the child (through blood, marriage or civil partnership) and with whom the child has a pre-existing relationship.' More often than not, these are grandparents.
Kinship Carers now have new rights to support. There is a specialist helpline on legal and financial issues for Kinship Carers through the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) on 0844 576 2955 or contact the local Citizens Advice Bureau branch in East Dunbartonshire on 0141 775 3220.
All services and activities provided by Carers Link to Carers are open to any other family member who is involved in providing support and care, including Kinship Carers and/or grandparents. However, in addition to our own support, training and advocacy services, there are a few organisations specifically for grandparents:
