SCIE media releases 2006

SCIE regional events - lighting the way for carers equal opportunities

9 May 2006

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has embarked on a series of events around England and Wales to increase awareness and debate about carers' rights to education and employment.

The five dissemination events - held in London, Cardiff, Birmingham, Leeds and Newcastle - are supported by ACE National (led by Carers UK), Care Council for Wales, Carers Wales, Skills for Care, City and Guilds and the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA).

They explain recent carers' legislation and demonstrate SCIE's free online practice guide to support practitioners. Each event features a speaker who can share good practice experience of implementing the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004. The speaker will from the one of the Beacon Councils of Sefton, Sunderland, Rochdale and Hertfordshire or from the Local Health Board in Cardiff.

The 2004 Act acknowledges that carers are entitled to the same life chances as others and seeks to ensure that carers are identified and informed of their rights for education, training, employment and leisure. However, in order to implement the act effectively, some local authorities need to make challenging alterations to current practice. SCIE's events will highlight steps that practitioners can take without adding extra costs and straining resources.

Speaking at the first 'road show' event in London , SCIE's Chief Executive, Bill Kilgallon, acknowledged the issues practitioners face, but reinforced the importance of carers:

"One in three of us will have a caring responsibility at some time in our lives. Yet evidence shows that many employers still don't recognise the rights of carers in their policies. We know that our sector is often under pressure to implement legislative changes with limited resources. That's why SCIE has worked with our partners to identify practical, cost effective actions that every provider can take. These events are an invaluable opportunity to highlight the rights of carers. They will allow organisations to access regional and national support, and they will act as a forum to share ideas, experiences and good practice."

To find out more about the events,

• Click here to access Practice guide 5: Implementing the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004.
• Click here to listen to radio interviews about carers issues.
• Click here for full interviews from the launch event in London on ACE Radio's Website - see http://www.carersnet.org.uk/aceradio.

Media contact

Annie Goss | Communications Officer | T: 020 7089 7117 | M:  07739 458 192 | Email: annie.goss@scie.org.uk