Do you remember our Share the Bear campaign last year for Carers Week in June 2021? Well, we hope so. And we are back with more. What is Carers Week? Carers Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring. We highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to […]
Share the Bear for Carers Week 2021
The theme for Carers Week 2021 is to make carers more visible and valued. Like many others, we are raising awareness to encourage more people to recognise, respect, and support carers. We are doing our utmost to do this. It’s part of our DNA actually. Is it part of yours? If yes, these resources might […]
Heartbreaking last days with Mum
Sara Bailey gives an open and honest account of love and loss. She shares details to help others going through similar, difficult times with loved ones. She talks about the heartbreaking last days with her Mum. We feature Chapters One and Two of her story on our blog. News out of the blue In October […]
Combatting Loneliness for Unpaid Carers
What is loneliness? It is experienced by 8 out of 10 unpaid carers according to recent research by Carers UK. And our beneficiaries experience it daily. It’s an emotion After Umbrage is acutely aware. Every day our work involves combatting loneliness for unpaid carers. How do you define loneliness? Loneliness is defined by researchers as […]
Mum was a fighter and we had hope
Sara Bailey continues her story to help unpaid carers feel less lonely when going through challenging times. Her Mum was a fighter and Sara’s family felt moments of hope despite being told her Mum had 12 weeks to live. We featured chapter one of her story last month. Here we continue Sara’s family story. It […]
My name is … a window into life as a carer
A poem about being a carer
International Women’s Day
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is #ChooseToChallenge. The campaign encourages everyone to challenge gender bias and inequality. In our way, After Umbrage seeks to offset inequality to a small degree. We recognise many of our beneficiaries who are unpaid carers have had to give up employment to care for their loved ones. […]
Dear After Umbrage, love Sara
As a small charity, we cherish letters from our beneficiaries. We love thank you cards too. This letter, ‘Dear After Umbrage, love Sara’ is rather special. It is a heartwarming, honest, and vulnerable account of being an unpaid carer. Sara Bailey and her family have booked a stay at Kingham Cottage later this year. Sara […]
Take a Break Magazine Features Theo
A special event happened this week. Denise Singh-Eyley and her lovely family were featured in Take a Break, the weekly women’s magazine. In a letter from the heart, Denise told the story of her sixth son called Theo. He was only 2lb 2oz when he was born. But Theo is a fighter and he defied […]
Family time together whilst at Kingham
For unpaid carers a night of unbroken sleep is a rare treat. Also rare is a day without a schedule of administering medication, using specialist equipment such as hoists, lifting and pushing wheelchairs, and providing nourishment, sometimes in the form of specialist feeds for tube-fed loved ones. That said, probably what is missed the most […]