TWO new services have been launched to reach out to Wiltshire’s thousands of unpaid carers.

The Carers' Café and the Carer Information Service have been set up for carers visiting Great Western Hospital in Swindon. They mirror similar successful initiatives run at Royal United Hospital in Bath.

The Carers Information Service involves volunteers visiting wards and outpatient departments, where they are able to identify hidden carers and provide them with appropriate information, referral and signposting.

The Carers' Café runs from the Refresh Café in the hospital on Wednesdays, from 2pm until 3.30pm, and is run by Carer Support Wiltshire and supported by Swindon Carers Centre.

“The project is going very well. The Carers' Café is now well established and we offer a listening ear as well as registering carers for specific support through the carer support organisations,” said Cathy Shahrokni, GWH volunteer co-ordinator for Carer Support Wiltshire (CSW).

“The work on the wards is also well established and complements the work the hospital does to ensure carers are looked after whilst visiting the hospital.”

The services have been set up thanks to a grant from the Zurich Community Trust.

Rachel Palfreeman, matron at GWH, with overall responsibility for carer support within the hospital, added: “Carers are hugely important to the recovery and ongoing wellbeing of patients and we recognise the need to identify and support carers in our hospital. If carers are supported and well, their loved ones are likely to experience a better quality of care. We all know that carers are often the unsung heroes.”

The Zurich Community Trust is donating more than £27,000 to Carer Support Wiltshire over three years. Zurich Community Trust is the community arm of Zurich in the UK and is funded by Zurich’s UK businesses and Zurich employees’ generous donations.

“We’re passionate about supporting those vulnerable within our communities and with our volunteering and grant programmes, we’re committed to making a difference together through the charities we support,” said Rachel Beddis, of Zurich Community Trust. “Our communities are heavily reliant on those vital frontline services local charities provide, so it gives us great pleasure to award projects such as the Carers' Café with the necessary funding they need to continue the amazing work that they do."

Cathy added: “We are extremely grateful to Zurich Community Trust for their generous support, without which these important carers’ services wouldn’t be able to run.”

Anyone who is interested in becoming a volunteer, or would like to access Carer Support Wiltshire services, should visit www.carersupportwiltshire.co.uk or telephone 01380 871690.

For more information on the services provided by Swindon Carers Centre visit www.swindoncarers.org.uk or telephone 01793 531133

For more information on Zurich Community Trust visit their website: www.zct.org.uk