Carers Card UK FAQs

1. Who are Carers Card UK?

Carers Card UK is an organisation that was founded by myself and Rod Joseph. We saw that the current carers cards available to carers were a bit of a postcode lottery in that some organisations had fantastic ID cards whereas others had no card at all. Therefore, our aim was to put together a national carers card that could work for all carers regardless of their location. This led to the birth of Carers Card UK. A centralised card that could become a very powerful tool where the winners are the carers.

Providing your own carers card is not an easy task. It takes up a lot of time and resources. Something that is often scarce, especially, when there are far higher priorities within an organisation. For those not able to efficiently and effectively provide their own card then adopting or promoting our card could be the perfect solution.

2. Are you a competitor to our own carers card?

No, not at all. We’re not here to compete with any other carers card. In fact, we see our card as complementing the various carers cards that are already available. We feel that all carers cards have a place as they each may provide something different for the carer to benefit from. In our opinion, a carer having more than one carers card isn’t an issue as long as each card provides a useful benefit to the carer.

There are cards out there that offer local discounts while there are others that act as an emergency card. They all have a role to play. Yes, our card also provides discounts and an emergency plan feature (optional), but it also supports the carer by providing tools such as a wellbeing hub, carer circle and a wide variety of support material. A carer equipped with both a local authority card and our card can only be a good thing for that carer.

3. Why do you charge for your card?

There’s nothing more we would love than to provide it for free. However, there’s just so many costs involved in producing our card and the platform that supports it. We are always striving to bring the cost down for carers. However, Carers Card UK is run with no external funding and so it’s extremely difficult. As we do charge, we make every effort to deliver quality and value for money. Finally, our card is completely optional and the decision to buy one is that of the carers. If they feel what we provide will help them and it's worth the investment then brilliant - we're on the right tracks.

4. What is your 'Carer Connect' service?

When a carer registers for our card we ask them if they’re in contact with their local authority or care organisation. Unfortunately, many of them have not been signposted to an organisation. Therefore, they may not be getting the support they need. For these carers we simply provide them with a list of organisations in their local area. The carer is then free to contact care organisations directly to find out about getting support.

This is an incredibly important part of what we do as 70% of our carers are not currently in contact with a local care organisation. We’re on a mission to change that. With only 8% of all UK carers currently being connected to a local care organisation we aim to improve that figure dramatically.

5. What’s your long-term goal?

We have a phrase that states “It all starts with a card”. What we mean by this is that by having our carers card it also unlocks lots of tools and resources to support carers on their journey – a toolkit if you like. Yes, we want to benefit carers financially, but we also want to help with their general well-being and the well-being of the person they support.

You may notice that our logo looks similar to an emblem you may find on the front of a superheroes’ chest. This is because we feel it encompasses what carers do. Carers have a heart of gold and we see them as the 'real' superheroes in our communities. Everything we do is for the amazing carers in the UK.

6. How can we find out more?

If you would like to find out more about how we can work together, please do get in contact. I genuinely believe that providing us with an opportunity to explain what we're trying to achieve will help you understand our drive and ambition.

There are a variety of ways to work together. Everything from adding your local events, having your own version of our card, or just promoting our card to your carers. Anything to help benefit your community of carers. The best way to dramatically improve the lives of carers, in our opinion, is for all care organisations to come together. We would love to hear from you.