The future of a vital charity working to support carers was discussed as proposed cuts leave its future hanging in the balance.
Harrow Carers, in Pinner Road, North Harrow, is one of many charities threatened by looming cuts proposed by the Labour administration as it consults on £75million of savings that need to be made in the next four years including cutting support to the voluntary sector.
At a meeting discussing the future of carer support in the borough on Thursday last week, manager of Harrow Carers Mike Coker told getwestlondon : “Many of the people who attended today really know the detail of what it is to be a carer, and how the system works, which is great. But there are many out there who do not even know that they are a carer.
“Our job is to provide the thousands of carers in Harrow with as much information as possible about how they can get help, and how better to cope, but it is a question of whether or not we will still be here in a few months with the cuts.
“Labour made the pledges before the election in their manifesto that they would support carers, so it's disappointing.”
Later in the day Labour councillor Ben Wealthy took to social media site Twitter and wrote: “Time for @harrow_council to support #carers more, not less. This is one cut that just shouldn’t be on the table.”
The meeting comes a week after Harrow Carers were one of 15 charities that wrote an open letter to leader of the council David Perry warning him of the impact the proposed cuts would have.
On the day a presentation was jointly given by the council’s commissioning service manager Tim Miller and NHS Harrow’s Clinical Commissioning Group’s Sunny Mehmi about the current care plan in how both bodies work to empower the work carers do, and how to access help.
Mr Mehmi told the gathering of carers: “We know that things are not great, but we know that we can make it better and that is done through obviously working with not just the council, but yourselves.”
Heated questions from the floor were fielded, including by Varsha Dodhia, who was a carer for her father in law.
She said: “We feel that meetings like this are not useful, because more and more we have them, and very little changes.
“The work that we do takes its toll. We put our own health at risk, like I have done, because the priority is the ones we love and care for.”
The help on offer to carers at present includes 559 of them getting £100 to £300 a year to aid with the cost of caring, including much needed respite.
Mr Miller said: “That kind of help is really appreciated by some, but to others it is an insult.”
Councillor Margaret Davine (Labour), cabinet member for adults and older people, said: “I have always highly valued the effort carers put in to looking after their families and loved ones, which greatly contributes to the work the Council does around supporting our residents – we couldn’t do it without them.
“We share Harrow Carers concern about the impact of the £75million of cuts imposed by the Conservative government on Harrow Council and our residents, and the impact this may have on the voluntary sector. We have been as open and honest as possible about the challenges ahead and no decisions have been made yet.
“We have already pledged over £200,000 towards tackling domestic violence in the borough and we are now putting in place plans for a project to support carers so that we are providing valuable support for our residents, and meeting our manifesto pledges.”
