Rachel Don Bosco
Counter Assistant – Regent Pharmacy
So there I was on a cold October evening closing up the pharmacy after a busy day, excited about the wild night ahead with my friends. Okay soo there was no wild night ahead. At all. In fact my plan was to catch up with some Revenge with a cup coffee in one hand and a purring kitten in the other hand, and it wasn’t even a cold night, to be fair it was mildly warm. And as for friends, well they were all in uni (ohh the hardships of being on your gap year). So basically I was free as a bird and when Sunil mentioned training I agreed to take part (a little too enthusiastically he reminds me still).
But in all seriousness the training sounded interesting, it was held by the Carers Trust which is a charity dedicated to caring for carers, a concept I’d never thought about. When I hear the word ‘carers’ I immediately think about elderly people, nursing homes and professionals employed to help those who can’t be totally independent. But the meeting clarified that carers are people who provide support and help to an individual without payment. The crucial bit there is ‘without payment’, so unlike my previous conception, it doesn’t mean a qualified professional. I’m sure many people, like me, aren’t aware of this, and I suppose we are all carers in a way. For example, I would never consider my family or myself as carers, and to be honest I still don’t. But in reality we kind of are, I mean growing up my grandparents have always lived with us, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. But my parents had to support them financially and as they got older and different health issues popped up, different tasks had to be fulfilled by us as a family, whether it’s shopping or cleaning their flat.
The statistics we were told shocked me, like did you know around 7 million people in the UK are carers? Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with being a carer; in fact my family counts it a blessing, the love and memories that I receive daily from my grandparents is a reward in itself. But when you find out that children as young as 5 are carers, it does send a chill down your back. And for some people caring can become a full time job which can cause financial, emotional and physical strains. The Carers Trust is dedicated to put you, the carer, first. They offer a variety of support which can help you and make your life a little bit easier. From advice about benefits that you are entitled to, to rest bite care, to just someone to talk to, they can help.
So I guess it was no night out with my mates, but it taught me lot about things that we brush of lightly (now that’s deep). If you are interested in how to sign up to the carers trust and how the pharmacy can help you click the first link below. Trust me, I am not as serious as the video shows, if you don’t believe me check out the second link for the bloopers :D.
P.S. If you wanted to know, if you’ve read this far then you clearly are, I did catch up with revenge and it was AWESOME!
