Crossroads South Ayrshire

Brian Kelsey, Chair of Crossroads South Ayrshire, gave a very interesting presentation on the work of the charity – Caring for Carers.

Crossroads have been helping carers for 40 years. Their principal objective is to provide a domiciliary service to relieve carers in South Ayrshire from the stress of caring for persons who need constant supervision. This includes those who have a physical, mental or sensory impairment, are frail and confused, are chronically sick, or are terminally ill.

There is much help available for people needing care, but little for carers themselves. This is where Crossroads can step in. They will provide relief for carers, mainly those who are attending to someone 24/7. Usually for between 2 and 4 hours, a relief carer can make such a difference by allowing the carer to do something on their own – it could be shopping, playing golf or even grabbing a few hours uninterrupted sleep – it doesn’t matter to Crossroads.

All Crossroads’ carers are fully trained and are paid. Fundraising is a very important part of the organisation, as they receive no money from government. There are three scenarios for obtaining the service:

• Someone can be referred by South Ayrshire social work department. If they meet their criteria, SAC pay for the service
• People can apply for the service and pay for it themselves
• People can apply for the service, and if they cannot afford to pay, they will get it free of charge. There is no means testing – Crossroads take their word for it

Crossroads operate from a tiny office in Biggart Hospital. They used to have a much larger office, but with NHS cutbacks, this is all they can offer. This means the admin staff use a combination of office and home-working.

Mary-Helen gave a worthy vote of thanks