Support for carers

If you provide unpaid care for an adult with a disability or health problem you might need support to help you look after your own health and wellbeing. 

A carer is anyone who looks after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of their illness, frailty, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction and cannot cope without the carer's support. The care they give is unpaid. Carers who claim benefits such as carers allowance are unpaid carers.

There are lots of different ways we support carers. The types of support may include:

  • arranging an assessment of needs to enable you to remain in your caring role
  • helping you to access services and support in the wider community
  • a direct payment to enable you to choose which support you want to access to meet your needs.

Our priority is to ensure all carers feel supported and equipped to maintain their caring role where it is their desire to do so, and also to ensure carers are able to access adequate respite from the caring role. 

You do not have to live in the borough as long as the person needing care and support lives in Redcar and Cleveland.

Assessment for carers

We can arrange for an assessment of your needs to help you continue in your role as carer, even if the person you care for has not had a needs assessment or has had an assessment and is not eligible for care and support. 

You can access a carers initial assessment from any of the carer support service providers listed below or, if you prefer, you can call 01642 771500 to speak to our local authority access team. An initial assessment is used to gain an indication of your needs for support as a carer.  

You can also complete an initial self-assessment by downloading and completing our carer self-assessment form below:

Carer support service providers

  • We Care You Care 
  • Carers Together
  • Redcar and Cleveland Mind/ Middlesbrough and Stockton Mind 
  • The Junction Foundation 
  • Age UK. 

We Care You Care

We Care You Care is our information platform that provides accessible information for carers. It also includes links to all our service providers and details of available services across the south tees area. Please follow the links below for further information.  

Carers Together

Carers Together is a registered charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for carers. They deliver the following services on our behalf:

  • adult carers information and support service which provides a comprehensive information, advice and practical support service to unpaid carers aged 18+ across the south tees region, enabling carers to maintain their caring role where it is their wish to do so 
  • transition agenda ensuring that our young adult carers are supported to make positive transitions between the ages of 15-25
  • hospital liaison service to support carers within hospital settings to prepare for their caring role in the community or for when the person they care for is in or discharged from hospital.

For more information, please visit https://carerstogether.co.uk/, call 01642 488977 or email: info@carerstogether-rc.org.uk

Redcar & Cleveland Mind and Middlesbrough & Stockton Mind

They work together to deliver our:

  • mental health community outreach service to deliver support for carers and families of people with mental health problems to improve emotional wellbeing. This includes support for carers who have mental ill health themselves.

For more information, please visit Redcar and Cleveland Mind , call 01642 296052 or email: info@rcmind.org

The Junction Foundation

The Junction Foundation delivers support for young carers: 

  • young carers information and support service which offers a comprehensive range of information, advice and support service to any children or young people under the age of 18 who are caring for adults or siblings.  This service also supports our transition agenda ensuring young adult carers are enabled to make positive transitions between the ages of 15-25.

For more information, please visit  www.thejunctionfoundation.com, call 01642 756000 or email: info@thejunctionfoundation.com

Age UK Teesside 

Age UK offer a variety of services to adult carers who have a caring responsibility to another adult in the Redcar and Cleveland area. The service arranges a volunteer to sit with the person they care for, allowing the carer a break. 

For more information, please visit the Age UK website, call 07834 181190 or email info@ageukteesside.org.uk

For further information see our guide to support for carers below: