New three-year partnership will help unpaid carers back into employment

Two leading charities are coming together and combining expertise in a new project aimed at supporting female carers into work.

Carers Wales have joined forces with gender equality charity Chwarae Teg who, from later this month, will roll out an initial six training sessions directly targeting some of those women in most need of support.

The bespoke virtual workshops have been devised by part of Chwarae Teg’s commercial offering – FairPlay Employer Solutions – which reinvests profits back into the charity’s work to end gender inequality.

Designed to specifically help female carers improve confidence to re-enter the workplace, the webinars look at subjects such as writing CVs and preparing for interviews after caring.

The sessions are available to women who may be considering working alongside an existing caring role or wanting to enter employment as their caring responsibilities have perhaps changed or ended.

Claire Morgan, Carers Wales, said: “With the number of carers in Wales growing and our Carers UK research showing that women are more likely to care at working age than men, it is critical that we support women to continue working or return to the workplace if they wish.  Welsh Government research shows that women are less likely than men to be in good quality employment and with 22% of carers living in poverty compared to national figure of 16%, we are delighted to be working with Chwarae Teg to offer support which will make a real difference to the lives of women carers who wish to return to the workplace and progress at work.

Our research suggests it can be extremely challenging for carers to get back into paid work when caring or after caring ends. We hope carers will sign up to this new project which we hope will build confidence and empower women to have the skills needed for the workplace”.

Stephanie Griffiths, Chwarae Teg, said: “We welcome this new partnership with Carers Wales and are looking forward to making a positive difference to the lives of female carers. Our vision at Chwarae Teg is for a fairer Wales where all women achieve and prosper, and this progamme will see participants gaining confidence, skills and the ability to reach their true potential at work.

It’s tailored to the needs of carers wanting to step into paid employment and will help them to realise the skills they already possess and give them the motivation to succeed.”

Women wanting more information or to sign up should go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/return-to-work-training-for-unpaid-carers-tickets-141953008269