This year the theme for Carers Week was making caring visible, valued and supported and all across Carers UK, there were workplace Lunch & Learns, Care for a Cuppas and special events, including a special parliamentary event attended by MPs from across the UK.

On the Carers Week website almost 2,600 individual actions were added to the site including over 925 activities and almost 1,400 individual voices. Many of you were among the approximately 320 organisations and individuals who pledged their support.

As part of the week, Carers UK released new research which showed the rising pressures on unpaid carers. This research revealed that 84% of the general public think that the UK government should provide additional support to unpaid carers - including financial support and investment in care and support services - so that unpaid carers can have a break. If you would like to read the full report, click here.

As part of the celebration for Carers Week, some of our Employers for Carers members showed their support by lighting up their iconic landmarks. BT Tower displayed a message of support throughout the week, Bank of England lit their building up bright red and Cardiff Council lit up City Hall and Cardiff Castle to show their commitment to supporting carers.

The Employers for Carers (EfC) team were busy joining around 30 organisations throughout the week, enjoying conversations around how to best support carers in the workplace, as our members made most of their complimentary Lunch and Learns. We’ve chosen some of our highlights from the other events which EfC members ran:

Wigan Council hosted a Carers Festival to celebrate carers in their area. The day included a Carers Marketplace of supporting organisations as well as activities throughout the day including mindfulness, free tours of the DW stadium, chair yoga, walking football, an introduction to curling and much more.

Leonardo ran a host of activities including an online Carers Cuppa drop-in session, launching a survey to their Carers Network to understand how the company can provide better support, an awareness raising webinar attended by over 200 people and information stands at all their main sites throughout the week.

The EfC team were invited to a flagship session held jointly by HSBC, Sainsbury's, National Highways and Aviva. Introduced by Helen Walker, Chief Executive of Carers UK, the session aimed to share how companies are recognising, valuing and supporting carers in the workplace. Each organisation highlighted topics such as hybrid working, key policies for carers and balancing caring responsibilities with a senior leadership role. The session was rounded off with an interactive Q&A.

EfC also held an exclusive session for NHS member organisations which focussed on recognising working carers in the NHS, how NHS organisations are supporting carers’ valuable contribution to the workplace and the current challenges facing NHS working carers and their organisations.

To wrap up the week, Carers UK hosted a Care for a Cuppathon with 425 attendees which included live performances, readings and positive discussions about caring. Thank you to Virgin Media O2 who sponsored the event.