East Lothian Council is recruiting new carers to offer short breaks for children and young people with disabilities through its Share the Care service.
We need more Share the Carers to support East Lothian’s children and young people with disabilities
Share the Care is a family-based short break service for children and young people with disabilities. It provides essential support to children, young people and their families by offering regular short breaks, either in a Share the Carer’s home or in the local community. This gives the child or young person the opportunity to take part in activities and make new friends as well as giving other family members the opportunity to spend time with one another or to recharge their batteries. The service currently has ten Share the Carers in East Lothian who support fifteen children and young people with disabilities by providing short breaks.
Leann Robinson, Share the Care Senior Practitioner said: “Like many other services, Share the Care has been impacted by the pandemic. We need more Share the Carers to support East Lothian’s children and young people with disabilities – to enable them to experience the ordinary things in life, like going to the park or going for a walk without immediate family and to build relationships with others.”
The team needs Share the Cares from all walks of life and particularly from people with experience of supporting children and young people with disabilities. There are children and young people waiting for Share the Carers who can provide a range of support from two hours a week daytime support, weekend support, overnight support or school holiday support.
Leann adds: “It’s a really rewarding role where you get to know a child or young people and help them to thrive while helping their whole family. I’d encourage anyone who is interested to get in touch with us for more information.”
East Lothian Council provides support to Share the Carers by providing:
- a preparation group before you begin
- a named Supervising Social worker to support you throughout
- out of hours telephone support
- learning and development opportunities
- a carer payment, mileage and expenses
For more details visit the dedocated pages on our website, phone the team on 01875 824 309 or email them.