Local housing association celebrates Carers Week

Local housing association Aster Group and its technology enabled care provider, Connected Living is marking Carers Week this week (7-13 June), by joining over 2,000 organisations including charities, politicians and businesses to make a pledge to respect and support unpaid carers in our communities.

Over 6.5 million people in the UK are carers, and Carers Week is an annual campaign to highlight the challenges unpaid carers face. This year’s theme is ‘Making Caring Visible and Valued’ and the team at Connected Living has pledged to continue to treat all carers with respect and dignity while working in their homes to set up technology enabled care across the south west. The Carers Week charity has also called for better support and ways for unpaid carers to have regular breaks from their duties.

Kerry Appleton, operations and contracts lead at Aster Group, said: “We’re thrilled to be celebrating Carers Week because we believe that both people receiving and providing care deserve to be treated with respect.

“Carers often need time and support from others themselves due to the demands of caring for their loved ones, and we wholeheartedly recognise the fantastic work they do every day. We also know that carers worry about what might happen to their loved ones if they themselves were to fall ill, which is where Connected Living can support by providing services that ensure help is always available when needed.”

Connected Living enables people to stay independent for longer while living at home. The team has continued to safely visit customers’ homes throughout the pandemic to fit devices like pendants, fall alarms and emergency call buttons to allow them to live confidently, often alongside support from family and professional carers.

Mrs Morris from Wiltshire cared for her elderly mum until she passed away and used Connected Living to help her mother stay as independent as possible at home for as long as she could.

Mrs Morris said: “Mum managed to stay in her own home until the last week of her life, she died at the age of 88. This was due to the support of me and my sisters and the wonderful service of Connected Living. 

“Over the last couple of years mum had fallen a couple of times, thanks to the alarm in mum’s home we found out quickly which meant we could get her the help she needed. Even on the last day in her home, the Connected Living team got the paramedics to us within a few minutes.”

In support of Carers Week, all new Connected Living customers will benefit from half price installation on the full range of Connected Living services by quoting CARER21. The team can be reached on 0333 400 8299 or visit www.aster.co.uk/connected-living for further information.