story by: dave king

Rotary in Hertfordshire and a doctors’ surgery have joined forces to set up a ​carers’ café which provides respite and support.

The Hitchin and Whitwell Carers’ Café was opened last November and, supported ​by Hitchin Tilehouse Rotary Club, the Friday morning sessions have been thriving ​ever since.

The carers’ café provides a regular, weekly opportunity for carers to meet at St ​Mary’s Church.

According to Dr Tara Belcher, who is the Clinical Director for Hitchin & Whitwell ​Primary Care Network, carers can use the facility to access information and ​support from health and social care providers, develop peer support networks, ​as well as participating in chair-based physical exercise and other activities.

“Our partnership approach, with collaboration from a wide range of partners, ​offers a welcoming and relaxing environment where carers can connect with ​local services so that needs are identified early to avoid reaching crisis ​situations,” she explained.

“Carers are often an invisible part of our community, who suffer health ​inequalities and may be overlooked.

“The support which they give to the person for whom they care is crucial to ​society; they maintain people in their own homes for longer, help with their ​independence and keep them well and out of hospital.

“Unfortunately, the impact on the carer may be to the detriment of their own ​physical and mental health. Carers often see their own needs as less important, ​resulting in not seeking help for medical conditions in a promptly. They also may ​be less able to work due to caring commitments, suffering workplace inequality ​and financial hardship.”

The idea was hatched last summer during National Carers' Week when an ad-hoc ​coffee morning was held. Dr Belcher said they were astonished at the number of ​people who attended, with one caring claiming they had learnt more in that one ​hour that in the last year or caring for his wife.

“We realised that there was an unmet need for support in the community for our ​population of carers,” added Dr Belcher.

She pointed out how there was a Healthy Memory Café operating in a ​neighbouring town, but this was only for those with dementia and was running ​monthly. “We have carers looking after loved ones with many other conditions,” ​explained Dr Belcher.

“Our vision was to create a welcoming, safe space where carers could come and ​access support from a wide range of health and social care providers. We wanted ​it to be somewhere that they would want to visit regularly, make friends and see ​it as an opportunity for a cup of tea and a chat.”

That’s when the weekly, two-hour carers’ café began operating in a church hall, ​close to car parking and bus routes.

The weekly cafés have been supported by Hitchin Tilehouse Rotary Club with half ​a dozen volunteers helping each week serving refreshments and, welcoming ​carers as they arrive.

Hitchin Tilehouse Rotary donated the proceeds of a recent bric-a-brac sale to the ​café, and together with the Primacy Care Network, have succeeded in sourcing ​funding through a charity grant application for £7,500 which will enable the café ​to run for the next year or even two.

Dr Belcher said that they had noticed significant results from the carers’ café in ​less than a year, welcoming up to 50 people each week. She said it had improved ​patient care in a number of ways, including by the use of our care co-ordinators ​to identify reasonable adjustments and health needs.

She added: “Information and support is available from our care coordinators and ​partners include Garden House Hospice, Carers in Herts, Crossroads, Herts Mind ​Network and Citizens Advice, with the aim of helping people access the services ​they need to improve their quality of life and prevent them reaching a health or ​social care crisis.”

Dr Belcher has since been presented with a Paul Harris Fellowship by Hitchin & ​Tilehouse Rotary Club for the partnership work. Rotarian Maggie Dyer, who has ​been at the forefront of the scheme, pointed out that the Rotary club has been ​working closely with the Primary Care Network since Covid when they provided ​volunteers to support the vaccination centre.

Maggie explained: “The Rotary volunteers meet and greet the carers when they ​arrive; find them a seat and provide them with refreshments, including tea, ​coffee, cold drinks, cakes, and savoury snacks, free of charge.

“Many of the carers are very vulnerable and lonely when they arrive for the first ​time.

“One story I always relate is about an elderly gentleman who arrived on our ​second or third week in October.

He had received an email or text from his doctor’s surgery telling him about the ​carers café and suggesting in may be a place for him to come as respite and also ​get any advice he might need from one of the many groups which attend.

“He was very nervous, so I asked where he might like to sit. He said he didn’t like ​to talk much and would prefer ‘a seat in the corner facing the wall’. I found him a ​seat at a small table and as he sat down one of our regular ladies came and sat ​next to him. He said he was not a good talker and might be better on his own.

She said ‘you don’t have to talk. I will talk to you’ and promptly sat next to him.

“He has returned every week since and sits on a table with a small group of ​friends – he is still quiet, but is very happy for the company, the tea and a couple ​of slices of cake.

“There are many more stories that we can relay of despair that has been ​resolved with patience and empathy from the volunteers and the professionals.

“We have a team of 16 regular volunteers from our club who absolutely enjoy ​coming each week. One member, an ex-president, said it is the best club ​initiative he has been involved in.”