Caring for someone close to you
If you support a partner, family member, friend or neighbour who relies on you for help to live their life, you are a carer. Anyone can become a carer and carers come from all walks of life, all cultures and can be any age. You might not see yourself as being a carer; you might just feel you are doing what anyone else would do in the same situation.
It’s important to know if you’re a carer, because as a carer you have rights and can get support with your caring role.
On this page, you will find information to help you understand whether you are a carer, your rights as a carer, and support for carers in Doncaster.
Are you a carer?
A carer is a person who supports someone close to them who needs extra help as they grow older, or due to a disability or health condition.
The person you care for could be your:
- Husband, wife or partner
- Family member – such as a parent, brother, sister, son or daughter friend or neighbour
You might help the person with:
- Cleaning or shopping
- Preparing and eating meals
- Personal care – such as getting washed and dress, and using the toilet
- Getting about at home, or going out to work, to see friends or to other places
- Medical care - driving them to and from appointments, arranging appointments and helping with medicine dosages or delivery
- Friendship and emotional support
- And much more
Carers are sometimes referred to as ‘unpaid carers’ because they are not paid for their caring role. People who receive Carers Allowance are still unpaid carers.
You are not classed as a carer if you have a paid job like a care worker or a support worker, or you work as a volunteer in a caring role.
Your rights as a carer
If you are a carer, you have lots of rights.
You can find out more about your rights on Your Life Doncaster at Carers' rights.
Find out about your rights as a carer on Your Life Doncaster
Carer’s Assessment
All carers are entitled to a Carer’s Assessment. This is not a test of your skills as a carer or a judgement on how well you are caring for someone. It is a friendly chat, focusing on you and your caring role.
As of Tuesday 1st April 2025, the Carer’s Wellbeing Service (previously carried out by Making Space) will be provided directly by the Council, using its own Wellbeing Team.
This means that more workers will be available to help Doncaster’s carers with information, advice and support than now. Workers in the Wellbeing Team are already connected into Doncaster’s different neighbourhoods and have a lot of local knowledge to help carers.
Although the Council’s Wellbeing Team will take over providing the service from Making Space, there won’t be wider changes without the full involvement of carers. For example, the carers peer support groups that currently run in the St Mary’s Church Hall (Sprotborough), St Peter’s Church Hall (Conisbrough) and Kirk Sandall Assembly Hall will continue. The group run from the Baptist Church Hall (Doncaster) will continue to be run by Making Space.
A worker from the team will listen to you to understand what matters most to you, whether you are willing and able to continue in your caring role, and any support you may need to live the life you choose to lead.
As experts in supporting Doncaster residents, the Wellbeing Team will also be able to give you information about your rights, and advise if you could claim some benefits and allowances or tax reductions.
To help prepare for a Carer’s Assessment it is a good idea to make a list of all the things you do in your caring role and how it affects you. You can find more information and advice on the Carers UK website.
You can contact the Wellbeing Team on 01302 737100 or email carers@doncaster.gov.uk
Local support groups
Carers tell us that speaking with other people who are in a similar situation can be a good way to get advice and support.
Your Life Doncaster has a whole selection of different Carer Support Agencies.
Your Life Doncaster Carer Support
Preparing for an emergency - Get a Doncaster Lions message in a bottle
The bottle is a simple but effective way to keep essential personal and medical details in one place. Paramedics, police, fire fighters and social care workers know to look in the fridge when they see the Lions Message in a Bottle sticker. Bottles can be supplied free of charge.
You can apply at Doncaster Lions Message in a Bottle
Getting support at work
It can be challenging to balance a job and support someone close to you. You should talk to your employer to see what support they can offer you. The support can include:
- Flexible working
- Taking time off
- Changing your work arrangements
You can find more advice on your rights at work by visiting Carers UK
If you are a Doncaster business you can find practical resources, advice and information to support your employee’s at www.efcdigital.org and enter our unique access code #EFC1849 to register
Free courses for carers
As a carer you will have developed lots of skills and knowledge, and you might want to learn some new skills such as First Aid or supporting people to move safely and with dignity, as well as more specific training such as supporting someone with diabetes or dementia or someone who is autistic.
You may also no longer be caring and want to use the skills you have learnt as a carer to support others through a paid role. We also offer a number of courses to help you gain some formal qualifications.
You can find full details of all courses, including how to book your place, in the attached document below.
- Carers Master Copy 2024-25
- Download (446KB - DOC)
- Course booking terms and conditions
Download (20KB - DOCX)
For more information on our Moving and Handling Carers sessions (including dates and times) please click the link Below
- ASC Family carers Moving and Handling 25-26
- Download (294KB - DOCX)
Doncaster's All Age Carers Strategy
Doncaster’s All Age Carer’s Strategy ‘’We hear, we listen, we care, if you care” outlines how the City of Doncaster Council, and partners, will support unpaid carers of all ages to undertake the invaluable contribution they make on a daily basis to the people they are supporting, to services and to City.
Visit our carers strategy webpage to read the strategy and find out more.
Other useful links:
Downloads & Resources
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