NHS CPFT Dementia Carers Support Service

Hear Chris’s story of being a carer and volunteering with the Dementia Carers’ Support Service:

What to expect

To access this service you will need to be referred by a mental health practitioner from CPFT. The service is unable to take self-referrals or referrals from outside CPFT mental health teams.

Once referred you will be contacted to see how the service may be able to support you. You will then be matched up with a volunteer who will contact you to introduce themselves and get to know you.

Volunteers provide:

• emotional support;
• practical support;
• information;
• signposting to other services;
• opportunities for you and the person you care for to meet at social events.

The Service offers time limited support of up to three months, however this will be reviewed and the team will ensure you are adequately supported in the longer term.

The Service are always looking for new volunteers to join the friendly team – find out more here.

More information

The Dementia Carers’ Support Service (DCSS) provides support to family or informal carers of people with a diagnosis of dementia at particularly challenging times throughout their caring journey. Carers eligible for support from the service are then matched to volunteers who often have first-hand dementia carer experience.

Volunteers are knowledge, skills and qualities that they can pass on to current carers of people with dementia. As CPFT volunteers they undergo the normal recruitment process for volunteers such as assessment of capability, appropriateness and Disclosure & Barring Service checks. Volunteers receive training and supervision (both peer group and 1 to 1) and adhere to CPFT’s policies and procedures.

Other support for carers can be found in the Support section of this website – click here for more Carer Support in South Cambridgeshire.