Unpaid Carers
The pandemic has increased the number of unpaid carers in Devon from 84,000 to over 130,000.
In the Craft of Caring Mid-Devon (2018- 2019), our artists offered over 50 free art workshops across Mid-Devon. Unpaid carers with no creative experience created artwork alongside professional artists – who also brought unpaid caring experience.
An exhibition – The Care Trail – during CredFest 2019 and Carers Week 2019 – showcased their work in community spaces – and achieved over 6000 audience members in rural mid-Devon.
“My initial reaction (to reading about the project) is relief and validation as a carer that something so meaningful and nourishing is out there. It is BY FAR the best outreach to carers I’ve ever seen.” An unpaid carer from mid-Devon
Significant Seams is working to better understand the ongoing mental health, peer support, and respite support needs of unpaid carers.
Creative research and evaluation led to this insightful report about mid-Devon unpaid Carers.
We are developing new activity to support unpaid carers, including training for frontline workers on the health and wellbeing benefits of creativity and craft – an area of mental health work dubbed, ‘Craftfulness.’
Our Unpaid Carers work has increasing overlapped with our youth programme, as parents of young people struggling with mental health, and many awaiting neurodiversity assessments, have shared their challenges.
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