A carer is anyone of any age who gives unpaid help and support to someone who could not manage without it. Carers make an enormous difference every day. They contribute immeasurable value to our communities and save the economy billions of pounds.
In October 2024, we launched Together with Carers – A Dorset Vision, created in partnership with the Dorset Integrated Care System. The vision set out shared goals for making Dorset a place where every carer is listened to, valued, and recognised as a vital part of health and care.
Now the focus is on putting that vision into practice. We are working across health, care, and community services to make lasting change. Our aim is that every unpaid carer in Dorset enjoys good physical and mental health, feels supported in their role, and can live their own life too.
About the Pan Dorset Carers Steering Group
Together with Carers – A Dorset Vision was written by the Pan Dorset Carers Steering Group, a partnership of unpaid carers and professionals from across Dorset’s health, social care, and voluntary sectors. The group brings together lived experience and system leadership to shape policy and practice for carers. Members meet regularly to share insight, challenge where needed, and help design better support for carers of all ages.
Developed with carers, for carers, this vision remains a live plan. We will keep reviewing progress and adapting as we learn. There is still much to do, but we are committed to building a Dorset where carers of all ages feel seen, appreciated, and supported in the way they need and deserve.
Meet Steve Duckett
Carer and Chair of the Pan Dorset Carers Steering Group
Hi. I’m Steve and I’m a full-time carer for my wife, Sandy, who has been symptomatic for over 20 years and who is now in the later stages of Huntington’s disease.
I had to retire early nearly 9 years ago to look after her. Like many carers, I don’t know when I actually became a carer. It can be a very lonely existence and took me a long time to get to grips with my new, very unfamiliar role and I’m not sure that I have got there yet! Often you’ve got to support the rest of the family too, as I did with our two children. It can all become a bit overwhelming and relentless and you never seem to have the time to care for yourself.
I became involved in the Pan Dorset Carers Steering Group at the end of 2022, and took on the role as chair early 2023. It’s easy just to sit back and complain but I’ve always preferred to try and get involved to help change things for the better. I know that we’re all busy but no one is better placed than we are to know what services will support us as carers and help make a difference. The Pan Dorset Carers Steering Group provides that opportunity to sit at the table with the very people who are commissioning those services that we all find so vital and we are looking for more carers to support us to do this.
Hear what other current carer members have to say:
As a carer involved in the steering group since early 2022, I’ve been able to help create a better understanding of our role and how we can be supported; I feel I’m making a difference to the carer experience and enabling positive change for the future.
Sharing my views within the Pan Dorset Carers Steering Group as a carer ensures that I am listened to. We are able to put forward our issues and concerns irrespective of who we are and what our individual needs are. This group ensures that you are listened to irrespective of your age, disability, background or beliefs. I feel reassured that carers’ voices are listened to and addressed in a positive and constructive manner.
To join the Pan Dorset Carers Steering Group (PDCSG) in my opinion, was an opportunity not to be missed. I cannot say this loud enough. No matter how busy or tired you are as a carer you need to squeeze this commitment into your life. You owe it to yourself and other carers.
This is a platform where I can speak freely and air my thoughts good or bad about the effects of services provided for carers or indeed the lack of them, to professionals who have a remit for carers. Years ago this would never have been possible and I remember those days well. Some things were much better but then, as health and medical practitioners come and go, so do some successful health services, and some, not so good health services. This opportunity allows my voice and other carers’ voices to be heard.
If you are a carer and would like some support, your local carer support organisations are here for you:
If the person you care for lives in the Dorset Council area, get in touch with Help & Care. Call 0303 303 0153; email carers@helpandcare.org.uk; or visit www.helpandcare.org.uk
If the person you care for lives in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) area, get in touch with BCP Carer Support. Call 01202 128 787; email carersupport@bcpcouncil.gov.uk; or visit BCP Carer Support
For more information, advice, and services for carers across Dorset visit our main carer support page: Carers – Our Dorset
