Top Tips to make booking a break easier for carers

Beneficiaries of After Umbrage are carers of loved ones living with life-limiting conditions. For them, life contains perpetual rounds of hospital visits, form filling in, and sleepless nights. They worry about what the next day will unfold. They are constantly on the go, feeling unwell themselves but have no time for self-care. Furthermore, often they […]

Parent Carers are at the Centre of our Work

Family Voice listens intently to the needs of parents and carers of children and young people aged 0—25 years with a disability or additional needs. Like us, they put parent carers at the centre of their work. In their case, helping them to be heard. We were delighted to meet Katie Barnett and Asta Remezaite of […]

Relief of suffering for those who care

The essence of Sue Ryder and her dedication to the relief of suffering is in evidence everywhere at St John’s Hospice near Moggerhanger, Bedford. There is a warmth that the social workers, staff nurses and volunteers embody and it was a complete pleasure to visit this month. We were invited to give a talk on […]

After Umbrage joins the ‘Big Support Small’ Campaign

Today we add our voice to the Big Support Small Campaign because the support we get from big charities is an integral part of our success as a small charity. Why? They make up the referrer network that supports us. This network includes GPs, hospices and charities serving carers. They serve carers in different ways […]

Boost your mood and bring your dog to Kingham Cottage

Science is helping us understand that our relationships with our pets come with some pretty powerful mental and physical health benefits. Dogs and cats in particular can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, ease loneliness, encourage exercise and playfulness, and even improve your cardiovascular health. With this in mind, we will be welcoming new guests with […]

Kingham Cottage soothes during bereavement

Lessons about bereavement help us serve our beneficiaries Captured data tells us many things, in particular, that many of our beneficiaries are visiting Kingham Cottage during their first year of bereavement. Our After Umbrage team are in regular contact with our beneficiaries and our growing referral network. These conversations are teaching us many things about […]

Getting to know more Carers – Spring Update

There is a network of organisations in this country that supports carers – in different ways to us. We have been making it our business to get to know them. Why? They know the carers that we can welcome to Kingham Cottage. This way, more carers can learn about After Umbrage and subsequently feel rejuvenated […]

After Umbrage reaches carers by linking with hospices

In the Autumn of 2017, After Umbrage won funding from The National Lottery Community Fund.  Subsequently, our focus has been to reach more carers so that they can come and have a free break at Kingham Cottage. One strategy has been simple: we reach carers by linking with hospices to build relationships. The people working there support […]

Grateful for our hospice friends and keen to make more

In 2014, we opened the doors of Kingham Cottage to carers and we started making connections with hospices around the country. We link with Family Support Teams, Nurses and Communications Teams so that we can meet carers and welcome them to our cottage for a free respite break. The people we know at hospices become our […]

We are on the BBC

It was our radio debut for After Umbrage yesterday and we enjoyed a little moment of fame as we were interviewed by Jeremy Sallis on his lunchtime show on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. It was a great opportunity to talk to people living, working, visiting and studying in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and tell them our story. We explained […]