This Friday is Carers' Rights Day which has been established to rally carers and remind the rest of us as well as ministers just what a vital role is being played by unpaid carers.
As a former care worker myself, I am very pleased to add my voice to this campaign to recognise their contribution and to focus on helping them to stand on their own two feet. This campaign seems to grow in importance and, I hope, influence every year.
The basic case is pretty straightforward. There are more than six million unpaid carers nationwide who provide care and support to family, friends and neighbours.
It's very likely that each reader of this column will know of someone who is looking after a relative or a friend.
The latest estimate is that there are 9,341 such carers in Gateshead. It's also reckoned that 1,551 of them are in poor health themselves and that 4,085 of them are also juggling care duties and paid work to make ends meet.
They are a huge and hidden army of vital volunteers with often vastly under-estimated problems of their own.
If they weren't doing this voluntarily, society would pick up a bill for about £90 billion each year.
It's not about money as such. Carers do it out of love and friendship but society would know it if they weren't undertaking such important tasks and had to pick up the tab.
So the first thing that the Carers' Day tries to focus on is the need for carers to take up the benefits to which they are entitled or the possible support they could get to protect their pensions.
We don't all automatically get a state pension. Pensions are built up from National Insurance contributions over the years. Many carers haven't been able to make those contributions because of gaps in paid work. Despite their huge contribution to our society, there is a real risk that they will end up with less pension in their retirement. That is why it is so important they get advice and take steps to protect their pensions.
Carers UK run an Adviceline (0808 808 7777 or www.carersuk.org) and have produced a free booklet, which is also available in local Lloydspharmacy stores.
Newcastle Chronicle and Journal
| Promoted by Paul Foy on behalf of Dave Anderson, both of St Cuthbert's Church Hall, Shibdon Road, Blaydon, NE21 5PT |