Making caring visible

Did you know? As a direct result of covid-19, an estimated 4.5 million people in the UK became unpaid carers in a matter of weeks.

That’s 4.5 million additional people caring for older, disabled or seriously ill relatives or friends since the pandemic began.

This week is Carer’s Week, an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK. It also helps people, who don't think of themselves as having caring responsibilities, to identify as carers and access much-needed support.

Carer’s Week is also a national celebration of carers across the UK, including the hundreds of colleagues who care for others, the work they do, and the challenges they face each and every day during these uncertain times.

The role of a carer can be incredibly demanding. They need to be recognised for the difficulties they are experiencing, respected for all they are doing, and provided with information, support and understanding. With that in mind, today, we bring you the first of our inspiring stories from carers within the business.

Home-schooling challenges

‘I currently work part-time three full days a week for Royal Mail, and my partner works full-time for the NHS in the Estates department covering a compliance role. On the day it was announced that schools would be closing, my manager spoke to me and said to work whatever hours suited me to allow me to help my 13-year-old daughter with her schoolwork.

‘The first week I tried working my normal three days, however, as I was trying to work, I kept being interrupted by my daughter with questions about her schoolwork (quite rightly so as this was a new experience for her too). At that point, my partner was still going into his office. By the end of that week I felt that neither myself nor my daughter had accomplished a great deal, so I agreed with my line manager to work four shorter days the following week. This meant that I was available in the afternoons to help my daughter with any queries she had.

‘This arrangement suited us well and we did this for several weeks until my partner started to work from home. Since he was now able to help with the home-schooling queries, I changed back to working three full days again. I know that if my situation changes again, my manager will not hesitate to help me.’ – Anon.

Parents and carers

Many of our people balance parental and caring responsibilities with their career. Our Parents & Carers steering group advocates for carers and offers support to those who need it.

We aim to help colleagues with caring responsibilities balance these duties with their day-to-day working life. We can help direct you to where you can obtain support with formal flexible working requests and approvals as well as advice on the types of flexible working available.

To contact the Parents & Carers steering group, please email: Parents.and.Carers@Royalmail.com. Similarly, if you would like to join the group or you have any positive stories about how you as a parent or carer have been supported by the business, please get in touch!