Oxfordshire Family Support Network (OxFSN) is a small charity, set up by family carers of people with learning disabilities to support other families in a similar position.

Recently, they were successful in obtaining funding from the European Social Fund to set up a free training course for family carers who are currently unemployed because of their caring responsibilities. The  “Creating Family Champions “ course will offer  a range of opportunities, which will be tailored to individual carers needs , including workshops, local groups and one to one mentoring  run  by people who are carers themselves.

Frequently family carers can find themselves socially isolated and unable to return to work for years. Jan Sunman, who works for OxFSN on a sessional basis, has a son with severe learning disabilities and autism. She was unable to return to work for 23 years because of her caring role.

Jan said,” I know how hard it can be to pluck up the courage to go on a course to gain more skills, to volunteer  or to think about getting a job as your  self-confidence  just disappears over time. Being a carer is an unseen and under-valued role. I felt I was like the Cheshire Cat – all that was left of me was the grin- I felt invisible”.

Jan said ,“We will be offering training modules, firstly to build up  self-confidence and then to   understand the basics about   how social care services work,  about carers assessments and  about what community care law  has to say about  support to their relatives and themselves. We will also look at how to make good care plans for their relatives and how to keep their relatives safe from harm. There is an opportunity to gain accreditation through the Open Learning Network.

The aim is to build their own skills and knowledge, and to consider doing this for others in similar circumstances in the future- to think about becoming champions for other families.  OxFSN feels strongly that family carers are “experts by experience” and have skills to offer to other families.”

The free training sessions will be run from January through to March and we will be setting up the local groups in December so that carers can get to meet each other and we can work with them to plan what they want to get out of the course.

If anyone is interested and wants to find out more, please contact Oxfordshire Family Support Network by calling Jan on 07596 784 947 or emailing: info@oxfsn.org.uk. Their website is www.oxfsn.org.uk