Slough Carers Support hosted a Carers Rights Day event on 21 November at Elite Banqueting Suite and this year’s theme was ‘recognising your rights’. The event aimed to help unpaid carers understand their rights and highlight key resources and support available. 

More than 100 carers attended the event alongside representatives, volunteers, and partners from the local community. 

Fourteen local organisations were on hand to provide advice and information to carers on benefit entitlements, carers assessments, and much more, including Health and Wellbeing Slough, NHS support, Adult Social Care, and local carers support groups. 

The event kicked off with a welcome and introduction by David Coleman-Groom (Executive Director People – Adults (DASS) from Slough Borough Council, followed by talks from guest speakers from the Debt and Welfare team (SBC) and the Carers Lead from CMHT (Community Mental Health Team). 

An important part of the event was giving carers the opportunity to spend time relaxing with each other in beautiful surroundings, with refreshments and entertainment.

A varied buffet lunch with everything from sandwiches to samosas, to freshly made cakes and cookies was served, and The House of Chaat restaurant chefs were also on hand serving delicious Chaat, Bhel Puri, and savoury snacks. 

Dhol player Karan (from the Dhol Show) kicked off the celebration with his loud and vibrant drumbeats enticing our carers onto the dance floor. This was followed by Sunita from Amina Khayyam Dance Company with her beautiful kathak dance. Finally, a winner of Slough’s Got Talent - singer Roy Armentano performed his captivating prayer for the carers to give them strength on their caring journeys and give them hope for the future. 

Jane Senior, Director of Commissioning, Slough Borough Council, said: “This was a fantastic event to promote and provide information to carers on their rights. Thanks go to colleagues, partners, local businesses and of course carers for making this such an enjoyable and informative event. We are particularly grateful to all our wonderful Carers Groups whose representatives made the day run so smoothly.

“We would also like to thank Elite Banqueting Suite (Slough) for their kind and generous support for the event, DJ Dips (from Apollo DJ) for the relaxing background music, and Jody (from JK Balloons) for the decorations. You can find out more about our Carers Support Service at: https://www.slough.gov.uk/carers/carers-slough/3 .”

The Mayor of Slough, Councillor Balwinder S Dhillon, said: “It has been my pleasure to attend this event and meet so many of our wonderful carers who do such an incredible job looking after their family and friends through illness and disability. My thanks also go to Slough Carers Support for organising such an informative and fun event, and continuing to provide ongoing advice, information, and support to the borough’s unpaid carers.”