Kevin Smith,UKIP’s candidate for Hove & Portslade highlighted the the problem of carers in Brighton and Hove by saying the following;
UKIP Kevin Smith
I had a deeply troubling meeting with Mr Chris Lau, Director of the Carers Centre for Brighton and Hove yesterday.Mr Lau was expressing his grave concern that the local council may have to reduce The Carers Centres funding.At the current time, The Carers Centre is funded 60% by the local council and 40% by charitable donations.
Without the council funding and the charitable donations The Carers Centre would be unable to stay open.The Carers Centre supports local people with a service that helps them cope with the stresses of being a carer.
Last year alone it helped over 1000 adult carers and 120 young carers.Mr Lau said that The Carers Centre would like to increase their social contacts, allowing information and advice to be more accessible to the community, as well as providing more respite options for carers in Brighton and Hove.
The city has 23,967 identified carers which is equivalent to 9% of the population. The economic value of the contribution by carers equates to £388.7 million – an increase of £88million from the 2007 estimate.I fully support the work that The Carers Centre carries out and encourage everyone within Brighton & Hove to do what we can to help this important service for our community.
The Carers Centre is desperate for help. Please contact them directly to see how you can get involved.
The Carer Centre
18, Bedford Place
Brighton
BN1 2TP
01273 746222
Email: info@thecarercentre.org
