news story

10th June 2009

Local MPs Join Forces to Back Carers in Bristol & South Glos

Roger Berry MP & Steve Webb MP joined by representatives of carers groups including the Princess Royal Trust for Carers and the carers'
charity Crossroads.

Local MPs Roger Berry (Kingswood) and Steve Webb (Northavon) this week joined forces at an event to mark Carers Week to pledge their support for local people who care for disabled family members.

The briefing event for MPs was hosted by the Princess Royal Carers Trust, which has a branch that serves Bristol & South Gloucestershire, and gave the MPs chance to hear more about the issues which are most important to carers. The theme of this year's Carer's week is "Carers - the UK's Secret Service" and is campaigning for greater recognition for carers and to ensure that all carers know that they are not alone and that help and support are available.

Roger Berry, who has campaigned for improved rights for disabled people and carers, welcomed the chance to hear about the latest campaign priorities of carers' organisations. He said:

"Carers are often the unsung heroes of our society. Many of them sacrifice career, family life and sometimes their own health and well-being to care for a loved one. It is vital that we do more to help ease the financial burdens that carers face and also to ensure that they can get proper breaks from their important responsibilities".

Northavon MP Steve Webb speaks in Parliament on social security issues and has campaigned for improved social security benefits for carers, especially those who are themselves over pension age. Steve Webb said:

"One of the things that local carers often tell me about is how much of their time and energy is spent battling with bureaucracy and trying to get different agencies to talk to each other. We need to streamline services for carers so that they can devote more of their energy to caring and waste less of it fighting the system".