Oxfordshire's unpaid carers to benefit from new partnership

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), which provides energy to Oxfordshire, and Carers UK have teamed up to offer resources to those looking after family, friends or neighbours who are disabled, ill or elderly.

The initiative, backed by £40,000 from SSEN, will focus on three areas - identification and support, SSEN's priority services register (PSR), and winter preparedness.

The identification and support component will help the energy company's customers with caregiving responsibilities to self-identify as carers and access the support they need.

SSEN has invested £40,000 in the initiative (Image: SSEN)

The PSR support will encourage both unpaid carers and Carers UK members to register, giving them access to additional support during power outages and emergencies.

The winter preparedness support will help unpaid carers to get ready for winter through home emergency and resilience plans, as well as ways of reducing energy costs.

SSEN’s partnerships and vulnerability engagement manager, Susan Duncan, said: "We are delighted to partner with Carers UK to support the incredible work of unpaid carers across the north of Scotland and central southern England.

"By working together, we can ensure that carers receive the acknowledgement and support they deserve, particularly during challenging times, storms and ahead of winter, building confidence in our services."

Chief executive at Carers UK, Helen Walker, added: "This partnership with SSEN is a welcome step towards improving the lives of unpaid carers.

"Despite the fact that three in five people will be carers at some point in their lives, it can take two years on average for someone to identify themselves as a carer and as a result they can miss out on vital support.

"We look forward to collaborating on initiatives that will provide essential resources and advice to carers in SSEN’s distribution areas."

There are an estimated 5.7 million unpaid carers in the UK. In SSEN’s licence areas alone there are 3,028 Carers UK members in the north of Scotland and 4,822 in central-south England.

To support the initiative, SSEN is delivering specialist training in collaboration with Carers UK's carers services team to its staff.

This aims to help staff better understand unpaid caregiving, enabling them to spot customers who might benefit from extra help.

Carers UK will also host two online winter preparedness sessions featuring the SSEN customer vulnerability team.

These sessions will offer practical advice and highlight the PSR and other resources.

People can register on the PSR if they are 60 or older, live with children under five, are disabled, have a chronic illness, or use medical equipment reliant on electricity.