Your latest updates from Carers of Dundee

Young Carer Primary School Resource Pack Launch

Dundee Carers Centre has developed a dedicated Young Carers Resource Pack to help primary schools across the city identify and support young carers.

In the pack, staff will find session plans, storybooks, and practical activity resources to help build a comprehensive programme for young carer groups. Overall the resources aim to help primary school young carers understand their caring role and develop peer support networks.

The pack will also include a range of leaflets and information on specialist support from the Carers Centre and schools.

Recently we arranged sessions with primary schools for them to receive their packs and hear from four other schools who piloted the resource pack on the impact it has made on them and young carers. Dundee Carers Centre will be working in primary schools from August onwards to deliver these across the city.

For future announcements regarding the Young Carer Resource Pack please keep following our social media posts, or for more information please contact Dundee Carers Centre on 01382 200422.

Alzhemier Scotland Dementia Cafés and Support Groups
Alzheimer Scotland run various Carer Support Groups in Dundee. Carer Support Groups offer advice, information, and support.

Each block consists of 4 sessions and attendees, where possible are encouraged to attend all 4 sessions as each contains various material and information.

Carers can self-refer, as can organisations, support workers and healthcare professionals.

The groups are held at the Dundee Dementia Resource Centre, Morgan Street, Dundee, on Monday afternoons from 2.00pm - 3.30pm. The dates for August to October are:

Monday 8th August
Monday 15th August
Monday 22nd August
Monday 29th August
Monday 5th September
Monday 12th September
Monday 26th September
Monday 3rd October

(Please note there will be a break midway – with no session on 19^th September)

Also running, are Let's Talk Dementia Cafes. Come along and enjoy refreshments in a relaxed and informal setting. The Café is for people living with dementia and their carers to meet others, gain information and Support and to socialise. There will be a Dementia Advisor on hand to support with queries and offer support:

Let's Talk Dementia Cafes

Location: V&A Dundee (Central), V&A Dundee, 1 Riverside Esplanade, Dundee Day & Time: 3rd Tuesday of the month, 2.00pm – 3.30pm
(21st June | 19th Jul | 16th Aug | 20th Sept | 18th Oct | 15th Nov | 20th Dec
Location: St Aidan’s Centre (East), St Aidan’s, Brook Street. Broughty Ferry, Dundee
Day & Time: Last Tuesday of the month, 10.30am – 12.00 noon
(28 th June | 26th Jul | 30th Aug | 27th Sept | 25th Oct | 29th Nov)
Location: Westend (West) – Starts September - Logie St Johns Cross Church, Blackness Avenue, Dundee
Day & Time: First Thursday of the month, 2.00pm – 3.30pm
(8th Sept| 6th Oct | 3th Nov | 1st Dec)

Anyone interested, should confirm their attendance at their chosen group by contacting Jeni Sinclair, Dementia Advisor, on 07917 241024 or emailing jenisinclair@alzscot.org

Activities within the community
Alzheimer Scotland are pleased to support people living with dementia and their carers with a number of community activities. These range from walking groups and Football Memories, to Lunch Clubs and trips to various museums in Dundee. Groups are facilitated by Rosemary Moncur, who continues to develop new enjoyable activities. These take place throughout the city and a monthly “What’s On” planner is created. To find out more and to be added to the mailing “What’s On” mailing list, please contact Rosemary: RMoncur@Alzscot.org or 07585 700902.

Caregiver Survey - For parents/carers of children and young people with Down Syndrome

Are you the parent or primary caregiver to a child or young person with a diagnosis of Down Syndrome?

Elaine Scougal is a postgraduate research student at The University of Dundee exploring the communication experiences and methods of children and young people with Down syndrome. She also is a mum to two children with Down syndrome. She is currently seeking the views and experiences of parents/primary caregivers via an online survey.

If you would like to participate, or find out more, please visit https://dundee.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/caregiver-survey

*This research has been approved by the ethics committee of the School of Science and Engineering, University of Dundee.

Support for carers leaving school

Carers of Dundee has created a new webpage specifically designed to help and support young people who are leaving school and looking at their next options. The page has information on flexible learning opportunities, carer support at college or university, as well as information on Young Scot packages and Young Carer Grants. For more information visit https://carersofdundee.org/carers/leaving-school/

LGBT Youth Scotland news, groups and support

LGBT Youth Scotland are pleased to report that all of our groups across Tayside have now returned to some face to face work. However the Discord server remains up and running with lots of digital opportunities for young people including fortnightly national sessions.

Allsorts of Spectrum Group
Our Dundee group for LGBT+ young people aged 13 – 25 runs on a Wednesday 6:30pm – 8:30pm and runs at Showcase the Street. Click here to visit the group page.

GLOW group
Our Perth group for LGBT+ young people aged 13 – 25 now runs on a Tuesday 6pm – 8pm at the AK Bell library. Click here to visit the group page.

Tea N Biscuits Group
Our Tayside wide Trans/ Non-Binary group runs on a Monday 6pm – 8pm and runs three sessions per month from Showcase and one session per month digital. Tea N Biscuits will be hosting an open evening on the 4th July where we invite Trans/ Non-Binary young people from across Tayside to join us to help shape support for Trans/Non-Binary young people across Tayside. Click here to visit the group page.

1:1 Support
We are continuing to offer 1:1 support for young people aged 13 – 25 struggling with any aspects of their gender identity or sexual orientation. We are still offering digital 1:1 support as we have found this to be a popular option but are also able to offer face to face 1:1s at Showcase the Street (Dundee) and the AK Bell Library (Perth).

Life in Scotland Survey
We recently launch our latest 5 yearly report: Life in Scotland for LGBT Young People. The survey gives a snapshot of how LGBT young people are experiencing a whole range of issues such as education, healthcare, bullying, work and how safe and welcome they feel – and many more. With this rich dataset, we have been able to compare the results that we collected in the last year to results over the last 15 years to get a picture of things are evolving.

For more information visit https://www.lgbtyouth.org.uk/

The Social Isolation One Stop Shop Padlet

The Social Isolation One Stop Shop is an online resource designed for people who are socially isolated or at risk of social isolation, but useful for anyone wishing to find out more about what support, services and groups are on in Dundee. The padlet is regularly updated with information. You can find information on social groups, befriending, carer support, help with digital technology, opportunties to get out and about, and much more. For more information visit https://padlet.com/jimdallasDVVA/r61fpq77tbeel90v or call 01382 305757.

Dundee Volunteer and Voluntary Action

Volunteers’ week ran from 1st to 7th June. This is a national event and is there to recognise and celebrate the work that volunteers do. It is also a way to highlight the benefits of volunteering whether at a one-off event or a weekly, longer term commitment. Volunteering is about gaining new experiences and skills, sharing your knowledge and learning. It may help fill time in your week, add vital soft skills to your CV and introduce you to projects that you feel passionate about. Third sector groups and organisations are there to help others, improve quality of life, preserve history and to care. During the week we launched from Pause in the Overgate and were delighted to talk people through opportunities in Dundee. Many organisations then put on events for their volunteers but also for those people who were considering volunteering.

For some more in-depth details visit https://dvva.scot/

Job Vacancies at Dundee Carers Centre

We are hiring!

Dundee Carers Centre currently has a vacancy for a Participation & Involvement Worker

For more information and details of how to apply please visit https://dundeecarerscentre.org.uk/job-vacancies/