Suffolk Family Carers

Sending you all the warmest of wishes for 2025

New Years can be a big celebration for some, but this can bring complications for others. Celebration times can add more pressure when you are caring for someone. New Years celebration often include fireworks, when caring for a person with dementia this can confuse, scare or trigger unwanted past memories. Here are some ideas of how to support someone with dementia during fireworks. ➡ Plan Ahead & Explain what will be happening. ➡ Attend Low Noise Displays ➡ Stay Comfortable and have a PlanB. ➡ Go Alternative and watch televised displays with the sound down. ➡ Avoid Fireworks Completely For more information on this please visit our blog: https://bit.ly/3ZYGs4f We wish you and the person you care for the very best for 2025. *These ideas have been written with caring for someone with dementia in mind, but they could also help someone how suffers with PTSD and also an neurodivergent person. #CaringAtNewYears #CopingDuringTheFestiveSeason #CopingAtNewYears #NewYearCelebration #UnpaidCarersOfSuffolk #CaringInSuffolk #FamilyCarersOfSuffolk

💥 Join our Board of Trustees at Suffolk Family Carers 💥 Make a Real and Meaningful Difference – use your skills and experience to positively impact on the lives of family carers. Suffolk Family Carers is an award-winning charity dedicated to supporting family carers of all ages. Our trustees ensure we put family carers at the heart of everything we do. Why become a Trustee 💪 Impact – make a meaningful difference 📈 Development - gain experience in strategy, leadership, and governance 🤝 Community – connect and contribute to local communities 👥 Diversity – bring your unique insights and expertise What we’re looking for – we value diversity and welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds, experiences and identities. We are particularly interested in hearing from people who have a background in Health, Education or Social Care as well as those individuals who have an understanding of diverse or underserved groups across Suffolk. For more information about becoming a Trustee at Suffolk Family Carers please click this link visit our website: https://bit.ly/4iENxON How to apply - Please contact recruitment@suffolkfamilycarers.org to register your interest and we can arrange an informal chat with Susan Brooks (Chair of Trustees) or Kirsten Alderson (CEO).

Many ex-service people experience PTSD, with celebrations that happen at this time of year can cause more distress for these veterans. This can leave them terrified and with a feeling they are back in a warzone and in real danger, unable to fully distinguish past from present. These tips from Combat Stress, about supporting veterans affected by fireworks could be really helpful if you support someone with PTSD. 🎆 reduce the impact of some triggers by using ear defenders or noise cancelling headphones 🎆 Asking family and friends to be with you, can help to keep you entertained and reassured 🎆 Remind the person you care for that they are safe, where they are and what is actually happening 🎆 Use scented candles, diffusers or plug ins to make your home smell nothing like the smells from deployments 🎆 Moving can provide a distraction and help reduce anxiety 🎆 Long and slow breaths lower your heart rate and can help calm the person your care for. 🎆 Use grounding techniques 🎆 Remind them that this will pass and they aren’t alone Our Serving Suffolk Families team have put together this helpful blog: https://bit.ly/3BxO0lf

Sending all our wonderful carers and their families seasons greetings for the festive season Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the last year.

Like many organisations we are reducing our hours during the festive holiday. Whilst we aren't available to take you calls you can leave us a voicemail, email or online message. However, if you need support when we aren't available there are plenty of organisations who can offer telephone support. We have put a helpful list together for you should you need support. We hope you are able to have a relaxing and enjoyable festive season. #CaringDuringTheFestiveSeason #CaringAtChristmas #CopingDuringTheFestiveSeason #CopingAtChristmas #TheHolidays #Christmas #CaringInSuffolk #SuffolkUnpaidCarers

🎄 Our 12 Tips to Coping and Caring During the Festive Season 🎄 At Suffolk Family Carers we understand that when you are caring for someone it can make this time of year that little bit more challenging. Over the last few weeks we’ve been giving you some tips of how to cope during the festive season, we’ve wrapped them all up together ⬇ ⏳ Take time for yourself Build in a few moments everyday to take a break 📝 Plan Ahead Know what you’re doing and when, let friends and family know what you need ahead of time 🙋 Ask for Help Lighten your load by getting others to help out 💭 Know where to get help if you need it Avoid missing out on support when services have different hours and know where else to turn for support 🌊 Go with the flow Ignore the expectations and do what is right for you, your cared for and your family. 💊 Don’t run out of prescribed medication Make sure you have put in repeat prescriptions. Remember pharmacies offer lots of medical advice too if you GP isn’t available. 👍 Help family and friends understand Let friends and family know about things that could help make the visit as stress-free as possible. 🔇 Create a quiet space A quiet space free of distractions and noise can help you, the person you care for have a few moments of peace 💖 Keep it simple and familiar Familiarity is especially important for autistic people or someone with dementia, keeping things as normal as possible will really help reduce stress levels 🧘 Take care of your mental health and wellbeing Speak kindly to yourself, take a few minutes for yourself, be in nature, go for a short walk. 💑 Manage Relationships and Boundaries You don’t have to do everything and see everyone. Saying NO is healthy. 🤝 Connect with others Connect with people who understand your situation. You don’t have to get anyone else’s permission to look after yourself For more information on our 12 tips for coping during the festive season check out our blog: https://bit.ly/4fdI2DY

Caring can be isolating. Feeling isolated and lonely doesn’t mean you don’t have people around you. Some people can be surrounded by caring people but still feel lonely, because the people around them don’t understand their situation, they aren’t being authentic or they lack support themselves. There are things you can do to feel less alone, some of these we’ve touched on the last few days but the main thing is connecting with others. That hasn’t got to be friends and family but someone who understands your situation. Here are some ways you could connect with others: ➡ Join a Family Carer group ➡ Let people know who are close to you if you are struggling ➡ Tell people how they can help, or if there are things they should avoid ➡ Be yourself and don’t justify yourself to anyone ➡ remember it's not your responsibility to convince other people, or get their permission to look after yourself. Of course if your situation means you cannot join friends and family in person, take advantage of technology to be with them virtually. Comment below and let us know how you connect with others. #CopingDuringTheFestiveSeason #CopingAtChristmas #CaringDuringTheFestiveHoliday #CaringAtChristmas #TheHolidays #Christmas #CaringInSuffolk #UnpaidCarers

You don’t have to do everything and see everyone! That’s probably easier said than done during the festive period, but when caring for someone It can be helpful to think about your boundaries and how to manage your relationships. Boundaries and relationships can become blurred when you have a caring role, which can make it hard to keep track of where responsibilities begin and end, lives and identities can become entangled and any sense of personal identity, space and resources can be lost. There are so many things we ‘need’ to do at this time of the year, but saying NO to a particular event or someone visiting is absolutely fine. It’s hard to say no, but it is really healthy, not just for your wellbeing but also for the person you care for. Here are a few ideas on how to manage those relationships and boundaries: ➡ You don’t have to answer people’s questions. Tell them you aren’t going to talk about it right now. ➡ Talk about your plans in advance, for example it may help to agree to a certain budget on gifts or when you want to eat. ➡ If others don’t understand how feeling you could share this post with them or try writing it down for them to read ➡ It’s fine if there are people you don’t want to see during the festivities, but if you can’t avoid it take the pressure off and keep some distance by watching a film, playing a game or allocating a task they can do to help you. We offer workshops on Caring and Boundaries which may help you if this is something you struggle with. For more information on these workshops please visit: https://bit.ly/41rsclU #CopingDuringTheFestiveSeason #CopingAtChristmas #CaringDuringTheFestiveHoliday #CaringAtChristmas #TheHolidays #Christmas #CaringInSuffolk #UnpaidCarers

Are you running on empty? 95% of us say mental health is important, yet only 26% prioritise it [Michigan Association of Health Plans, 2021]. Looking after our own mental health and wellbeing is hugely important, not looking after yourself could mean eventually you won’t have the capacity to look after, support or care for others. No one can share from an empty bucket. We need to fill our own buckets to be able to give to others from them. This can mean speaking kindly to yourself, taking a few minutes for ourselves, being in nature, going for a short walk. There are many ways in which you can look after your own wellbeing, trying to prioritise it can be tricky especially when you have a caring role but any small act of kindness to yourself will go a long way. Encouraging the person you care for to look after their own mental health could have a positive knock-on effect for their general wellbeing and therefore for you too. Wellbeing Suffolk service is available specifically to support you and the person you care for with your wellbeing, check out their website for online self-help as well as self-referral courses. For more information on how we can support you manage your mental health and wellbeing please visit: https://bit.ly/47KBIAl #CopingDuringTheFestiveSeason #CopingAtChristmas #CaringDuringTheFestiveSeason #CaringAtChristmas #TheHolidays #Christmas