A NEW social group for carers of people with lifelong or life-limiting conditions has launched in Butetown.
\nConnected Carers\u00a0launched\u00a0 yesterday with the aim of bringing together carers who may be feeling \u201cisolated\u201d from across Cardiff.
\nSujatha Thaladi, co-founder of The Mentor Ring, is supporting Connected Carers in setting up local groups across the city to eventually be led by carers.
\n\u201cConnected Carers is about bringing them together on a regular basis across a number of areas of Cardiff; we\u2019re trying to encourage them to chat, meet for a coffee and talk about their experiences.
\n\u201cThey are starting off small led by trained organisers, but will be looking to expand and be led by volunteers from local communities.
\nAt the meeting was Jacqueline Jones from the Parents\u2019 Federation, who support children and adults with disabilities across Cardiff and the Vale.
\n\u201cThere has always been a need for a social group for carers, another lady who was a part of the Parents\u2019 Federation used to run a social group in the Vale of Glamorgan that inspired us to do these.\u201d
\nOne carer, called Elizabeth, said: \u201cI enjoyed coming to the first meeting today, the support is really good.
\n\u201cThe concept of possibly leading a coffee morning is strange, I don\u2019t know many carers as it\u2019s all quite new to me so meeting some other carers would be nice.\u201d
\n\u201cThe Connect Carers service is primarily for Touch Trust and Parent Federation members,\u201d said Ms Jones.
\n\u201cBut if you are an unpaid carer for a family member with a life limiting condition, then you don\u2019t have to be a member to become a part of Connected Carers.\u201d
\nGlamorgan Voluntary Services (GVS), who run the Connected Carers project, successfully bid for almost \u00a3260,000 of National Lottery Funding to get the scheme off the ground.
\nProjects like The Mentor Ring are supporting Connected Carers, specifically in how to train current carers to lead small carer social groups in different Cardiff suburbs.
\nCardiff University undergraduate Eilidh has previously volunteered with The Mentor Ring to lead a mums and toddlers group in her spare time.
\n\u201cI had a few hours of training but then I mostly learnt as I went doing classes to teach mums from minority backgrounds English.
\n\u201cI think that if you want to help people then you can.\u201d
\nThe Parents\u2019 Federation and Touch Trust have a combined membership of 2,200 carers and cared-for, who are all being encouraged to take up the opportunity.
\nConnected Carers will hold coffee mornings at Butetown Community Centre on the first Tuesday of every month. The next meeting will be on Tuesday March 6.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A NEW social group for carers of people with lifelong or life-limiting conditions has launched in Butetown. Connected Carers\u00a0launched\u00a0 yesterday with the aim of bringing together carers who may be feeling \u201cisolated\u201d from across Cardiff. Sujatha Thaladi, co-founder of The Mentor Ring, is supporting Connected Carers in setting up local groups across the city to eventually be led by carers. \u201cConnected Carers is about bringing them together on a regular basis across a number of areas of Cardiff; we\u2019re trying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":24663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[221,113],"tags":[392,5484,5485,5486,5487,5488,2447],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-24660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-butetown","category-uncategorised","tag-butetown-2","tag-cardiff-and-vale-of-glamorgan","tag-connected-carers","tag-glamorgan-voluntary-services","tag-jackie-jones","tag-sujatha-thaladi","tag-the-mentor-ring"],"yoast_head":"\n