More than 1,000 carers made use of a support service during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Dumfries and Galloway Carers Centre made more than 10,000 contacts of support between April 2020 and March this year. And it found that with cases dealt with by support workers increased in complexity due to the pandemic.
A total of 1,322 adult and young carers used the services of the centre, which is commissioned and supported by the council and the health board to provide information, advice and support.
The number of formats used by the service increased with the move to offer virtual one-to-ones.
Staff identified people who needed enhanced levels of support at the start of the first lockdown to make sure they had the correct information to cope with decreased services, shielding issues, access to food and medication.
The service has remained open throughout the pandemic as carers couldn’t stop what they were doing, instead having to increase their roles.
The centre’s manager, Claudine Brindle, said: “We knew that they would need increased support from all areas of the organisation, and this has been shown in how the service has responded.
“The service has reacted and responded to the changes needed as a result of the pandemic extremely well and we should all be proud of what has been achieved over this year.”
Many young carers found themselves with increasing caring roles due to schools being closed and other services reduced or stopped.
Anyone who would like to contact the carers centre can do so by calling 01387 248600 or emailing info@dgalcarers.org.
