Caring for the Caregivers: How The Care Workers' Charity Is Supporting the UK's Care Workforce

Every day, care workers across the UK provide vital support to some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. Yet behind the compassion, dedication and professionalism that define the sector, many care workers face significant challenges of their own, from financial hardship and burnout to a lack of recognition for the essential work they do.

In this interview, we speak with Victoria Newton-Cutler, Head of Fundraising at The Care Workers' Charity, about the charity's mission to ensure care workers receive the support they deserve. Victoria shares insight into the realities facing today's care workforce, the impact of the charity's crisis grants, wellbeing and advocacy programmes, and how organisations such as OneAdvanced are helping make a meaningful difference to the lives of care workers across the UK.

Can you tell us a bit about The Care Workers’ Charity and its mission to support care workers across the UK?

"The Care Workers' Charity (CWC) is a UK-based charity founded in 2009 with a single focus: supporting the people who spend their working lives caring for others.

Care workers are often overlooked despite doing some of the most demanding and important work in the country. CWC exists to change that, offering practical and emotional support through crisis grants for care workers facing financial hardship, advocacy work that pushes for better recognition and conditions across the sector, and professional wellbeing programmes designed to support care workers' mental health and development.

At its heart, CWC's mission is simple: no care worker should be left to struggle alone, and the people who care for others deserve to be cared for too."

What are some of the most significant challenges faced by care workers, and how does the charity help address these?

"Care workers face several persistent pressures, and the charity has been built to respond to each one.Financial hardship. Many are paid below the Real Living Wage with little financial cushion, so an unexpected car repair or bill can tip them into crisis. The charity's Crisis Grants, up to £500 each, cover essentials like rent, utilities or white goods. It has awarded over £7 million to more than 14,200 care workers to date.

Mental health and burnout. The work is emotionally demanding, with long hours and high stress; large numbers of care workers report feeling close to burnout. Through a partnership with Red Umbrella, the charity offers free counselling to those who need it.

Lack of recognition. Alongside direct support, the charity campaigns for fair wages, better training and improved conditions, and works with other organisations to push for wider change across the sector. Also, irregular shifts and low recruitment and retention leave many services stretched, adding to the financial and emotional strain on staff."

What kind of support does the charity offer to care workers, and how does it make a difference in their lives?

"The Care Workers' Charity offers three main strands of support.

Crisis grants. One-off payments of up to £500 to help with rent arrears, car repairs, utility bills or replacing broken white goods. These grants act as a safety net for people with no other financial cushion, and the charity has awarded over £7 million to more than 14,200 care workers to date. Alongside the grant itself, the team signposts people to other relevant support services.

Mental health support. Free counselling sessions delivered through a partnership with Red Umbrella. This has benefited over 500 care workers, giving them both direct access to support and the tools to look out for colleagues.

Advocacy and campaigning. The charity pushes for fair wages, better training and improved working conditions across the sector, and works with other organisations to raise awareness of the pressures care workers face.

The difference this makes is often described as preventing a single setback from becoming a much bigger crisis, a grant that stops an eviction, keeps a car on the road so someone can get to work, or covers a funeral cost at short notice. The mental health support gives people access to help they might not otherwise afford, at a point where burnout is common across the sector. And the advocacy work aims at longer term change, so fewer care workers end up needing crisis support in the first place."

How does the charity identify care workers who are in need of support, and what is the process for providing assistance? 

"Care workers find us primarily by reaching out directly. Most people contact us through our website, where they can access our grants portal, read about our mental health and wellbeing support, and find information about the other services we offer.  We rely on care workers and care providers knowing we exist, which is why raising awareness of our support within the sector is a significant part of what we do.

For financial assistance, applicants complete an application through our website. Applications are reviewed by our grants team against our eligibility criteria, which require the applicant to be a paid adult social care worker, currently employed in the sector and having experienced a change in circumstance in the last year. Our support is specifically for adult social care, so it doesn't extend to NHS staff or those working in children's services, which are supported by other charities. Decisions are made as quickly as possible given the often-urgent nature of the need.

For mental health support, care workers apply to our Mental Wellbeing and Health Support programme and are matched with a qualified therapist based on their specific needs. Sessions are funded by CWC and take place online, so there is no cost to the applicant.

In both cases, we also signpost people to other organisations where our own support is not available or not the right fit, whether that is because someone falls outside our eligibility criteria or because they need specialist advice we cannot provide."

What are some of the most inspiring stories or testimonials you've heard from care workers who have received support from the charity?

View our latest case studies here

How does the charity engage with care workers and the wider care sector to understand their needs and develop effective support services? 

"Our engagement with care workers is not a one-off exercise, it is embedded in how we operate as a charity.

At the centre of this is our Care Worker Advisory Board and Champions Project, a national network of 40 care workers from across all four nations of the UK. We meet with members regularly to discuss the issues they are facing, and we co-produce and collaborate with them to create change, rather than simply informing them of decisions after the fact. Alongside this, we get them actively involved in external opportunities with the likes of DHSC, CQC, The Health Foundation, Oxford University and more. This project ensures that care workers themselves are directly informing our work and the direction of wider sector reform.

Beyond the Advisory Board and Champions Project, we make a point of extending engagement opportunities, including surveys and consultations, to our grantees as well. Care workers who have come to us at a point of financial or personal crisis often have insights that are just as valuable as those from our more established network, and we want their experiences to inform our work too, not just those already engaged with us in an ongoing capacity.

A key part of our approach is deliberately creating care worker-only spaces, separate from employers, commissioners and other stakeholders, where care workers can speak honestly about their experiences and understanding of the sector without fear of repercussion. This matters because it allows us to hear what is happening at the point of direct care, rather than a filtered version of events.

What we learn in these spaces then directly informs the conversations we have with other stakeholders across the sector, including providers, commissioners, regulators and policymakers. In this way, care workers' experience becomes the evidence base and starting point for our wider advocacy and sector engagement, ensuring that the voices of those delivering care remain central to decisions made about the sector."

What are the charity's fundraising goals, and how do you plan to achieve them?

"Reaching sustainability is always our overarching goal, but that is hard because there are always more care workers needing support than we can help. We don't receive any government funding, so everything we do relies entirely on what we raise ourselves, which is why financial support from our corporate sponsors and care providers supporter members is so critical. We know that we have some amazing champions, for which we are incredibly grateful, however, we really want to grow our collaborations to more organisations within the sector but also to those outside it too: people who are personally affected by a care journey, who have been helped by a care worker and who want to say thank you in a financial way. This is what helps us reach our goals and, in turn, support more care workers in crisis."

How can individuals and organisations get involved in supporting The Care Workers’ Charity, and what kinds of fundraising activities have been successful in the past?

"There really isn’t a one size fits all (and, we love it like that!) some organisations have an ESG goal to achieve and donate annually, some organisations love to get fully involved with all of our campaigns as well as donate to the charity. We are delighted to receive money from bake sales, marathons, cycles all held in our name, golf days where we have been chosen as a recipient for money raised or even someone leaving us a legacy in a will.

The charity hosts a full fundraising calendar each year which always includes favourites such as Soar for a Cause (sky diving), our annual walk, Professional Care Workers’ Week and our Wear it Orange campaign.

Anyone can get involved either with our events or hosting their own. We can help in small ways by sending T-shirts and badges or setting up JustGiving pages!"

What impact do you hope the charity's work will have on the care sector as a whole, and on the lives of care workers and those they care for?

"If you were to ask our CEO she would say that her ambition is for the charity not to exist: for care workers to be recognised as the fantastic, dedicated and professional people that they are, for them to receive pay which reflects their skills, and for them to have a professional career pathway that is worthy of them.
In the meantime, we are here to support those care workers who genuinely have nowhere else to turn and who need either financial assistance or therapy to help their mental wellbeing.

We don’t exist unless our care provider supporters, our amazing corporate sponsors and members of the public donate so that we can do that. It's awful but simple."

Are there any specific initiatives or campaigns that the charity is planning for the future, and how can our readers or followers get involved?

"Yes, absolutely. We have a packed events calendar and always love to have involvement, whether that is sharing our posts on social media to help us expand our reach or its rolling sleeves up and getting involved!

In the remaining months of this year, we have our Professional Care Workers’ Week (14th to 18th September, PCWW) which is now in its 9th year. It’s a whole week of virtual round tables hosted by our CEO who is joined by thought leaders within the sector as well as care workers, care providers and corporate clients all giving opinions and discussing key themes on people's minds right now in the sector.

A client told me last year that of all the events that he attended across the whole year in his role, the hour session we hold on the last day of PCWW was the best and most illuminating he spent! Great praise indeed!

PCWW is followed by our Wear it Orange campaign where organisations can download a fundraising pack and go orange crazy! Wear something orange, do an orange flavoured bake sale or just donate. It’s a social media bonanza and a great way for the charity to raise awareness and funds too!

Finally, our year culminates in our annual Winter Prize Draw. Our generous sponsors and supporters donate fabulous prizes which we raffle to raise money. We capitalise on people's festive generosity and hope to raise over £3,000 by selling tickets, so watch this space and buy yours!"

OneAdvanced has been a longstanding supporter of The Care Workers’ Charity. Can you tell us what this partnership means to the charity, and how our support has made a difference to the care workers you serve?

"You have indeed been a sponsor for the last 3 years and have donated £6,000 over that time for which we are incredibly grateful. A team of 6 of you also took part in our Soar for a Cause Sky Dive last year raising over £4,000.

We love that you help us with a regular financial donation which helps our charities sustainability, but you also get involved in the fun stuff too, which makes engaging your teams easier, gives a core purpose to focus on and helps your staff actually see the benefit of their time effort and challenges."

Is there a particular story or individual that has touched your heart during your time at The Care Workers’ Charity, and what does it say about the importance of the charity's work?

"Sadly, there are many, many heart-breaking situations that we get to hear about however, one that has stayed with me since hearing it a few years ago is about a single Mum with a little boy of 7 or 8.

She worked long hours and had no family close by to support her with her childcare so had to pay for him to be looked after sometimes whilst she was working, which is not an uncommon situation; many families are in the same position.

However, what was incredibly sad was that due to her limited budget she had to cut back on almost everything, down to the bare minimum.

Her little boy loved fruit, and I vividly remember that he was incredibly sad that due to her having to cut costs, he no longer was able to enjoy fresh fruit every week.

Seems such a basic purchase, but one that he really missed when cuts had to be made.

We were able to support this Mum with a crisis grant which helped her buy some groceries during the month. It's truly humbling to know that there are care workers in the UK looking after our families but, not being able to look after their own."

 

The Care Workers' Charity's work is built on a simple but powerful belief: those who dedicate their lives to caring for others deserve support, recognition and care themselves. From providing emergency financial assistance and mental health support to championing long-term improvements across the sector, the charity is making a tangible difference to thousands of care workers facing difficult circumstances.

As demand for care continues to grow, so too does the need to support the people at the heart of the sector. Through fundraising, partnerships and awareness campaigns, organisations and individuals have an opportunity to help ensure that no care worker has to face hardship alone. Whether by donating, taking part in an event or simply helping spread the word, every contribution plays a part in supporting those who spend their careers supporting others. 

Want to learn more about The Care Workers' Charity or get involved in its upcoming campaigns and fundraising events? Visit their website to discover how you can help make a difference