Carers are often seen as those who have to give up their jobs to care for a relative or friend full time - doing everything from washing and dressing someone to making sure they take medication or can get out of the house. But there are lots of other ways we care for people.

Perhaps you go shopping for your neighbours once a week, or clean your Mum's house? Perhaps you support your HIV positive partner - sorting out medication, or finding out the latest information? Perhaps you take your grandmother for a day out once a month?

All these roles can define you as a carer. And that's where Caring with Confidence, a free Department of Health backed knowledge and skills based learning experience for carers in England, comes in.

Following research, carers within the LGBT community have been identified as being an under-represented group when it comes to accessing support and encouragement for their caring roles.

You can access these courses near for free, with caring assistance available so you can attend even if the person you care for needs full time help.

See the current course schedule!

Do you care?

People who are LGBT carers or carers of LGBT people are being offered the opportunity to make a positive difference to their life and that of the person they care for with the Caring with Confidence programme.

Caring with Confidence is aimed at improving support for carers aged over 18, and carers can develop their skills and knowledge by taking part in free local group sessions. In the north west, LGBT sessions are being provided by The Lesbian and Gay Foundation in Manchester, The Armistead Centre in Liverpool and SHIVER in Blackpool.

There are seven sessions to choose from, and to get started, carers can sign up to the first introductory session Finding Your Way, which is an opportunity to look at what matters to you and decide which other sessions you might want to do.

You can then choose to do any or all of the following sessions: Caring and Coping, Caring and Me, Caring Day to Day, Caring and Resources, Caring and Life and Caring and Communicating. Caring can sometimes be a lonely and isolating experience and the Caring with Confidence programme offers a fantastic opportunity to get support and share experience, meet new people who are in similar situations, learn new skills and best of all, it's all free!

There is also finance available to provide alternative care if the person you care for needs help full time. The programme will offer support and help to carers, with particular emphasis on the millions of people who provide care on a daily basis but don't know where to begin when it comes to accessing the services and benefits available to them, which can be particularly challenging for LGBT people.

Research also revealed that more than 60% of those people asked believed their caring role affected their health. As a result the need to support people looking after loved ones in a flexible manner has never been greater.

To book places or for more information on the free local sessions and distance learning options contact Annie Emery by phone on 0161 235 8024

Courses schedule

MARCH
Thur 4th Caring Day to Day ~ 6pm-9pm @ LGF
Fri 5th Finding Your Way ~ 10.30am-1.30pm @ LGF
Mon 8th Caring & Resources ~ 10.30am-1.30pm @ LGF
Thur 11th Caring & Life ~ 6pm-9pm @ LGF
Tue 16th Caring & Communicating ~ 1pm-4pm @ LGF
Thur 18th Caring & Communicating ~ 6pm-9pm @ LGF
Mon 22nd Caring & Life ~ 10.30am-1.30pm @ LGF
Thur 25th Finding Your Way ~ 6pm-9pm @ LGF
Mon 29th Finding Your Way ~ 10.30am-1.30pm @ LGF

APRIL
Thur 1st Caring & Resources ~ 6pm-9pm @ LGF