Charting the history of services for unpaid carers in Helensburgh and Lomond
Prior to 2000 there were no statutory or voluntary services in Argyll & Bute offering support to unpaid carers as their primary function. However, that year the Scottish Government made funding available to local authorities to be used firstly to determine what services carers living in their respective areas required and then contribute to the costs of providing those services. Within Helensburgh and Lomond a Steering Group was formed and questionnaires were distributed to carers inviting their comments and suggestions. This confirmed the need for an advice and information support service as well as the demand for a Carers’ Centre to be established in Helensburgh.
The Steering Group initially set up an office within a room in the Royal Sailors Rest, Braeholm, Helensburgh, and later employed a Project Co-ordinator and Administrator to take matters forward. A voluntary Management Committee was formed in November 2000 to oversee the development of what was called the South East Argyll Carer’s Project. At that time, carers were largely invisible to the statutory agencies and one of the first tasks was to identify who they were and begin to provide the level of advice and support that could be afforded with the limited resources available.
In 2001, the Project joined other local carers’ organisations to form the Argyll & Bute Carers Networking Board to share experience and best practice, as well as create a forum for discussing carers’ issues with statutory agencies and other interested parties. At the end of that year, the Project became a member of the Network of Carers Centres across the UK operating under the umbrella of The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, which had its Scottish Headquarters in Glasgow.
As the organisation grew and developed, more formal arrangements and structures were put in place. In 2002, a written Constitution was agreed and the Project became a Registered Scottish Charity, with the legal form of a Charitable Association. In 2004, the name was changed to Helensburgh and Lomond Carers’ Project and it relocated from Braeholm to offices in East King Street, Helensburgh. However, increasing demands meant larger premises were soon required and in 2006 the Charity took occupancy of leased accommodation at 17E East King Street. This provided more space and facilities to allow the Carers Centre to be properly established and for the services offered to carers to be expanded.
In February 2016 we moved once again as we had outgrown the premises at East King Street and accommodation became available at 29 Lomond Street, Helensburgh. The move comprised co-locating with NHS services at that locus.
Following a review of the governance arrangement by the Charity’s trustees, a number of amendments to its Constitution were passed at its AGM in 2010, including dropping the word ‘Project’ from its name. This was a prelude to an agreement at the 2011 AGM to seek approval from the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) to change the legal form of the Charity to a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO). This meant establishing a new and separate legal entity, which would replace the existing Charitable Association on the Scottish Charity Register. OSCR approval was secured and on 30 March 2012 the Charitable Association was removed from the Charities Register and was formally wound up on 5 April 2012.
New Beginnings
Helensburgh & Lomond Carers SCIO was entered onto the Scottish Charity Register on 30 March 2012 as a new Charity, albeit with the same Charity number and address as the Charitable Association. The staff, assets, liabilities and, undertakings of Helensburgh & Lomond Carers transferred to the SCIO on 1 April 2012 and it assumed responsibility for all operational activities from that date. These were not the only changes that took effect on 1 April 2012, as that day the Princess Royal Trust for Carers merged with Crossroads Care (England and Wales) to form a new charity called the Carers Trust. The SCIO became a member of the Carers Trust Network.
There were 4 staff posts transferred from the Charitable Association to the SCIO and this included the Manager, Administrative Support Worker and 2 Outreach Carers Support Workers. The SCIO quickly added a Young Carers Development Co-ordinator and a Young Carers Support Worker in April 2012. In February 2013, a Carers Training Co-ordinator and Carer’s Assessment Support Worker joined the team to be followed in June 2013 by a Carers Befriending Service Support Worker. This meant that the total staff compliment at 31 March 14 was 9, but the Charity continued to introduce new services and a 10th member of staff took up an appointment in April 2014 as an Education, Training and Employment Worker to provide support to young adult carers.