GCU Carers

Staff carers are being invited to join the GCU Staff Carers Network

The Staff Carers Network was formed following interest from staff carers during Carers Week in June, when the University hosted a series of events and activities. It has already had some initial discussions to establish a remit and an outline of themes for meetings over the next year.
The network aims to:
• Act as a safe and confidential space for staff carers to share experiences and provide mutual support and advice
• Signpost staff carers to relevant information, events and organisations
• Be a platform for socialising to build and maintain a spirit of camaraderie
• Provide a voice for staff carers to inform University policy and practice.

The network meets every two weeks on MS Teams, with meetings alternating between a focus on a specific topic or theme, and a more informal, social gathering.
The University recognises that staff may have wide and varied caring responsibilities outside of work and may have to balance these with the demands of their GCU role, so the network is a key part of our commitment as a Carer Positive ‘Engaged’ employer to ensure that staff carers at GCU are supported and valued.
A carer is someone who provides unpaid care by looking after an ill, frail or disabled family member, friend or partner, or someone who needs extra help as they get older. It isn't someone who volunteers or is employed to provide support.
To join the network, or for more information on our work on staff carers, contact Adrian Lui, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisor: a.lui@gcu.ac.uk.

GCU works in partnership with Carers Trust Scotland who have helped us to understand the challenges experienced by student carers. We are proud to have achieved the ‘Going Higher for Student Carers’ Award, which recognises the work we do to support student carers.
If you are a carer considering applying to the University or you are already registered as a student, please get in touch by emailing StudentCarers@gcu.ac.uk. Your email will be picked up by the named contact person for student carers who can provide you with more information about the supports available. If you are unsure whether you are a carer, please get in touch and we can discuss your individual circumstances and help you to access support.

Our named contact person for student carers is Christina Kelly, Student Wellbeing Adviser, who is based in the Student Wellbeing Service and can help you to make links with the other teams within the service if required. The Student Wellbeing Service will not share any information about you or your engagement with our service without your permission.

The University has a Student Carer Policy that details the rights and responsibilities of students, staff and the university in relation to student carers.

The GCU Student Wellbeing Team have also produced a leaflet outlining support for Student Carers at GCU. You can also find out more about the experiences of our student carers, at our Student Carers Stories webpage.

Our student wellbeing adviser, Christina Kelly, is a point of contact for student carers throughout their time at university. Christina is happy to be contacted by prospective students and applicants as well as current students, and can support you in a range of ways:

Applicants are advised to get in touch early so that they can find out about pre-entry supports and opportunities to apply for scholarships.

Christina can provide practical and emotional support to student carers throughout their time at GCU. She is happy for students to contact her at any time, or can also discuss setting up a more regular wellbeing check-in with individual students. We would also recommend signing up to the Student Wellbeing newsletter.

Christina can offer advice, signposting and referrals to other services and resources within GCU and externally. Please visit the Student Wellbeing webpages to find out more about the supports and resources available.

Christina can help you to create a Carers Plan. This document will formally verify that you are a carer and provide a way of communicating with your department about how your caring role might impact on your studies. The Student Carer Plan also provides an opportunity to request flexibility to help you balance your caring role with your studies. Some examples of flexibility that may be offered are:

• Recognising the need to arrive late or leave early in order to place your cared for person(s) in appropriate daytime care
• Agreeing periods of authorised absence and making arrangements for you to catch-up on lectures/tutorials missed for reasons relating to caring responsibilities to ensure that you are not at an academic disadvantage
• Requesting advance notice of timetables where possible to allow you to make necessary alternative care arrangements and recognising that you may not be able to attend academic activities in the event of late changes to timetables
• Ensuring that you have adequate opportunity to make up missed time e.g. through access to any missed materials, or rescheduling of practical activities
• Taking account of caring responsibilities on courses which require an external placement.
• If viable, consideration of a transfer to part-time study (Please note that international students in the UK with a Tier 4 General Student Visa are not permitted to change to part-time study).

The process of getting a Student Carer Plan is:

1. Email studentcarers@gcu.ac.uk or christina.kelly@gcu.ac.uk to request a meeting.

2. You will be invited to a confidential 1:1 meeting to discuss your caring role and how this impacts on you at university. You will also be advised about other supports available at GCU and from external providers.

3. Christina will draft a Student Carer Plan (see attached paperwork) and send it to you to check over before anything is shared with your department. No confidential information about your caring role will be included in the plan; this will only provide information about the impact on your learning and engagement with university and advise what the department could do to support you.

4. The Carer Plan is then shared with your personal tutor/year leader who will advise what they are able to do to accommodate your needs. Please be aware that academic departments may be limited in what flexibility they are able to offer, e.g. you still have to meet the learning requirements of the programme/professional bodies that oversee your programme.

5. You can update your Carer Plan at any time if your circumstances change.

Christina is also happy to support students to participate in activism to raise the visibility of student carers and help you to have your voice heard. Please get in touch if this is something you would be interested in getting involved with.

At GCU Students' Association there is an a representation group for Student Carers. The Student Carers' Group exists to represent the interests of all Student Carers studying at GCU. The Student Carers Officer with GCU and GCU Students' Associations to enhance the student experience of students with caring responsibilities.

The officer team can be contacted at SCOfficer@GCUStudents.co.uk . Find out more by joining the group at GCU Students' Association. 

At GCU, we recognise the incredible contribution that unpaid carers make to individuals and society. We believe that the role of a carer supports the development of skills and attributes that are valued within communities. Therefore we recognise and reward this informal learning through The Common Good Award. To find out more about this award, please e-mail cgaward@gcu.ac.uk with your name and student number and someone will get back to you with more information about how to sign up.

Our Student Wellbeing Adviser and institution lead and contact for Student Carers spoke on the Common Good Podcast about the support available for student carers at GCU. This is available on Soundcloud and Spotify, and through our Student Carers Podcast Transcript

SAAS have created this document specifically for Student Carers to advise on what funding might be available to you.

You can also speak to our Student Funding Team who can advise on what funds could be accessible for you.

Some student carers may be able to claim Carers Allowance. See the section on ‘Who can claim Carers Allowance’ on this helpful Carers UK factsheet.

Glasgow Caledonian University host a number of events for our student and staff carers throughout the academic year. 

We are in the process of establishing plans for the Carers events below and would love to hear your suggestions!

Carers Parliament – 4th – 7th October

Carers Rights Day – 25th November 2021

Young Carers Day of Action – 16th March 2022

Carers Week – 7 – 13th June 2022

Scottish Young Carers Festival - August 2022

The GCU Wellbeing Team also offer a range of different groups and workshops to students and staff at Glasgow Caledonian University to enhance their mental health and wellbeing. Find out more at our Webinars and Online events webpage.

Feedback from student carers has indicated that it would be helpful to include student carer stories on our web pages to help illustrate their experiences. If you would be interested in sharing your story, please go to our Student Carers Stories webpage.

Our Student Carer Officer, Abbie, has been working with Carers Trust Scotland’s Young Adult Carer Advisory Group. Over the past 8 months, this group of young adult carers has been planning lots of fun and informative events to reach as many people as possible. This year's theme is "protecting young carers futures" and is focusing on helping young carers to overcome barriers to getting to university and other positive destinations,.

Abbie would like to hear from student carers to get an idea of what would have been helpful when transitioning to university.

Abbie has created an anonymised form so that the voices of student carers can inform this campaign and improve support for carers throughout university.

All questions are optional so you can write as much or as little as you want.

During 2020 we asked our Student Carers to tell us more about their experiences of lockdown and the impact of Covid19. We have collated their responses below: 

Impact of Covid 

What would help under a blended learning model?

General Comments about Support 

Carers Trust Scotland and The Open University in Scotland have joined forces to help improve support to thousands of student carers in Scotland, who are studying alongside providing unpaid care for a family member or friend who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or addiction problems.

Carer Aware is a new online training module which has been developed by Carers Trust Scotland and The Open University in Scotland with funding from The Scottish Funding Council. The module will help university staff to better understand the challenges faced by many student carers and provides guidance on how to improve support for these students at university.

HOPE have created this fantastic guide for students who are supporting ill or disabled family members. It is written by young people and offers tips for students in similar situations.  

The Open University offers these free online modules for carers and for managers supporting carers in employment.

Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership provides a range of community health and social care services for children, adults and older people within Glasgow City. Some services cover the entire NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Board area. The services are either directly provided by the Partnership or purchased by the Partnership from another provider/contractor of community health and social care services.

You can find more information on how to:

• get a community health service or
• get a social care service

There is also information for carers on the Glasgow website or the carers area of Your Support Your Way Glasgow.

The National Wellbeing Hub for the health and social care workforce has been launched. This includes resources for unpaid carers. This is a ‘front door’ to the wide range of support and wellbeing resources available in Scotland.

Housing Options Scotland can offer excellent support in this are for those looking to secure appropriate, secure housing (aimed at disabled people, older people and veterans).

Find out how to apply for the Young Carers Package, Carer's Allowance and the Young Carers Grant. Hear stories from other young people on their experience of being a carer and get loads of info on caring for someone.

Find information about how to look after your emotional wellbeing, support from organisations around Scotland and tips on how to promote a positive mindset at Young Scot's Aye Feel webpages. Check out the #AyeFeel tag on social media for the latest updates.

To help carers and their families have some time-out from their caring routines while other supports may not be available, Shared Care have pulled together a collection of ideas, resources and activities which we are calling – ‘Short Breaks for Strange Times’.  These include everything from online courses, virtual museums, exercise programmes, read-alongs, and websites for children and young people, as well as support services that are delivering online.

the NHS have dedicated online resources with information for carers using NHS Services.

Lanarkshire Carers have created an online Wellbeing Library with self-care videos. These short videos are designed to give you a short break away from your caring role and to help you cope better with life as a carer. These are particularly helpful when you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Make sure you take the time to look after yourself.