General News

Know your Rights Campaign

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has launched Know your rights campaign, which urges both older Londoners and carers to claim benefits they are entitled to - including those to help cut heating bills and keep warm.

An estimated £4.2 billion benefits for older people go unclaimed each year. This means individual pensioners may be losing out on as much as £50,000 in benefits over their lifetime, according to research by the London School of Economics.

The campaign will also encourage older Londoners and carers to beat fuel poverty by obtaining free or discounted energy efficiency measures in their homes wherever these are available. Energy efficiency measures include loft insulation, cavity wall or solid wall insulation, draft proofing, hot water tank and pipe insulation, energy saving lightbulbs, double glazing, floor insulation, choosing the most energy efficient electrical appliances and replacing inefficient boilers.

For more information please visit http://london.gov.uk

Events

Carers Protest - 24th April 2009

A group of carers have come together to organise a national protest on 24 April 2009. This is a grassroots carer-led initiative. Crossroads and other carer's organisations are supporting the group, but what they need are carers to get on board and help.

They have an online forum to discuss and plan the protest and it's open to all. For further information please click here.

Carers Week

Carers Week will be held from 8 - 14 June 2009. For more information on what events will be held please click here.

Carers Week Survey - Hidden and Invisible

Carers are invited to take part in the 2009 Carers Week survey, which can be completed at www.carersweeksurvey.org.uk

The survey will be seeking answers to the following questions:

Is the contribution that carers make recognised by society?
Do carers need access to better support and services?
Would increased recognition by professionals, and by others who impact on carers day-to-day lives, make a difference to carers lives?

The survey will bring to the fore the issues carers say that are the most important to them, and will give carers the opportunity to share their experience of caring; the personal stories of the stresses and strains; the ups and downs.

The stories and experiences that carers describe will together create an overall picture and a set of results, which will be at the centre of Carers Week 2009. All information provided by carers will be private and confidential.

(This information has been provided by Carers Uk - should you require further information please click here.)

Hounslow Crossroads - Lampton Schools Chosen Charity..........

We are delighted that three students from Lampton School in Hounslow chose Hounslow Crossroads as their charity for the Youth and Philanthropy Initiaitive.

Lampton School was selected as one of only ten schools in the UK to polit the Initiaitve that is so successful in Canada. The unique programme is designed to teach secondary school students the basic skills of effective giving and to highlight the very positive impact they, as young people, can have on their communities. Ryan Gohir, Nathan King-Batsios and Shashi Kahlon are pictures here with Hounslow Crossroads Chief Executive, Sandra Hawke, during the evening of celebration at Lampton School.

(pictures to follow)

Following in-depth research about the charity and its work, the students were selected for the finals. Their clear and focused presentation in competition with nine other groups really put across the message about the value and challenges for unpaid carers who look after others at home. And for raising awareness of the service that Crossroads can provide to complement the role of informal carers in Hounslow. We appreciate their choosing Hounslow Crossroads and very much hope that we can maintain this link with the students and with Lampton School.