Short Break Stories

Time to Live

A story by Borders Carers Centre

We provided grants directly to carers who live in the Scottish Borders

What Time to Live did

Guidelines and application form used for all carers, no deadline for applications, applications submitted to the Strategic manager who then checked for content and accuracy before forwarding on to the panel.

A Virtual Panel set up to reduce costs and save time, applications considered on an individual basis to make the fund more responsive to need
Advertised through health and social care teams, our website and integrated into the carers assessment process, issues with the form were raised and these are being addressed at present, mostly about wording and more clarity required in questions.

Catherine is in constant pain as she is waiting on a hip operation, she has previously had both knees operated on, this has been through wear and tear from her caring situation. She cares for her husband Peter who has Parkinson's, his mobility is very poor, he is incontinent and regularly needs help with this and has accidents throughout the home.

Their relationship has really declined and Peter is on a waiting list for housing with care. Catherine has found it increasingly stressful caring for him and they are ‘existing’ with each other in their home. Catherine feels her entire life is on hold at the moment, she has felt like this for a long time. Catherine received funding for therapy and beauty sessions, this helped her to reduce her stress levels and look objectively at her caring role and her own wellbeing. It helped her to come to terms with her situation and prepare to move on.

Debbie does all personal care for her Mum as her Mum does not feel comfortable using carers, her Mum has serious health and mobility issues; Diabetes, Arhythmia, Stroke, Immune Compromised, Tumours on Brain, Deaf, poor visibility, Osteoarthritis, Lymphatic Problems. Debbie’s step Dad lives with them but he works and is also receiving active treatment for Leukaemia, which means he is unable to help with his wife’s care regularly, although he will take some time off his work to help when Karen goes on a break.

Due to the high level of care her Mum needs Debbie has been unable to have a break of more than a day for several years. Debbie received funding to take a trip to Ireland to visit the Daniel o'Donnell museum, she is a huge fan. This has given her such a boost in self esteem and confidence and allowed her her some time away from the constant pressure of caring and she came back a much stronger person.
Mary was diagnosed with early onset dementia (44) years old. During the previous 2years she was misdiagnosed with depression, she had arranged to get solar power installed in house at a cost of £12,000, got a car on HP which is sitting in drive, unable to afford the payments, garage refusing to take car back.
Mary has had her license revoked. Her husband David is struggling to get her to all her appointments by public transport due to her incontinence & unpredictable behaviour. Faecal & urinary, she has no idea when being incontinent.

David had sat his test and failed. He has passed his theory which is in date till next year. He cannot afford to get more lessons and re sit test due to finances.
Mary has before diagnoses, run up a lot of debt. David received funding and passed his test, he is now able to go out for short breaks on his own and able to get Mary to appointments without the stress of public transport. He is also able to re connect with family members and visit them to get additional support

What Borders Carers Centre has learned

It has enabled us to reach hidden carers and give them the opportunity to access further support through a carers assessment.

It has improved our relationship with health & care providers by giving them examples of the kind of support carers are asking for.

The applications have challenged us at times as they have not always fitted into the traditional definition of respite and have generated a lot of discussion within the panel.
Top tips Borders Carers Centre's top tips for an organisation that wants to run a similar project
Tip 1:
Keep it simple
Tip 2:

Tip 3: