Carer Friendly Dudley: A Year in Review 2025
Local support can make a significant difference to unpaid Carers’ wellbeing, confidence and ability to continue caring.
Through Carer Friendly Dudley, Adult and Young Carers can access practical support, wellbeing opportunities and information that helps them navigate the challenges of caring and live a full life alongside their caring role.
Forward Carers is commissioned by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council to deliver Adult Carers Wellbeing, in partnership with Dudley Carers Hub, and also Dudley Young Carers services.
For registered adult Carers, this includes wellbeing conversations, groups and activities designed to reduce isolation and improve wellbeing. For Young Carers, our service provides opportunities that help them build confidence, make friends and take a break from caring.
Our Impact Review 2025 highlights the support provided during the past year and the difference it has made for Adult and Young Carers across Dudley, alongside the wider work being delivered by Forward Carers across the West Midlands and South-West.
Why do we produce an Impact Review?
At Forward Carers, we believe that measuring impact is about much more than counting activities or reporting statistics.
Our Impact Review helps us understand whether support is making a difference in Carers’ lives, what we’re learning and where we can improve. It also helps us remain accountable to commissioners, funders, partners and the Carers who help shape our services through their feedback and experiences.
What does the review tell us about Dudley?
During 2025, the Dudley Adult Carers Wellbeing Service supported 308 registered Carers, delivering 1,338 one-to-one contacts and casework sessions, completing 209 wellbeing assessments and recording more than 1,000 attendances across 140 groups and wellbeing activities.
At the same time, Dudley Young Carers supported 321 Young Carers, delivered 26 group sessions and activities, recorded more than 550 attendances, and worked with schools across the borough to improve identification and access to support.
Supporting Adult Carers
For adults, the Dudley Adult Wellbeing Service for registered Carers often starts with helping people recognise that their own wellbeing matters too, and that support is available.
Alongside information and wellbeing conversations, the service helped Carers access practical advice and specialist support. During the year, Carers were supported to identify welfare benefit entitlements worth an average of £98.89 per week, helping people manage some of the financial pressures that can accompany a caring role.
One Carer shared:
“This has made a huge difference to my mental health and wellbeing, I feel less isolated, heard and feel that I’m not alone anymore.”
The review also highlights the experience of a Carer supporting her mother who was living with dementia. Through the service, she accessed benefits advice, practical support and opportunities to connect with other Carers, helping her feel less isolated and more confident.
Supporting Young Carers
Young Carers often balance caring responsibilities alongside education, friendships and growing up.
Dudley Young Carers provides opportunities for young people to take a break from caring, spend time with others who share similar experiences and access support when they need it.
During the year, Young Carers took part in a range of activities, trips and group sessions designed to build confidence, reduce isolation and create opportunities to have fun.
One Young Carer said:
“It was nice to have a break from caring and just have fun.”
The service also continued to develop the Carer Friendly Schools programme, helping schools better identify and support Young Carers. By the end of the year, 38 schools had engaged with the programme, helping raise awareness and improve support for pupils with caring responsibilities.
Creating Additional Value
Alongside commissioned support, Carer Friendly Dudley secures additional funding, resources and opportunities that helped extend support available to local Carers.
For our Young Carers service, this included Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) funding to deliver 200 funded sessions for 70 Young Carers, free Merlin attraction tickets for 60 Young Carers and family members, and Christmas presents worth £9,600 through Cash4Kids Mission Christmas. More than 250 additional session spaces were also funded for Young Carers.
Across the wider service, grants and in-kind gifts worth more than £10,000 were secured to increase support available to Carers, while partnerships enabled 43 Carers to access free bus travel, data SIMs and overnight breaks.
These additional opportunities help remove barriers, reduce financial pressures and ensure more Carers can access the support and experiences available to them.
Part of a Wider Picture
While this article focuses on our Carer Friendly Dudley activity, these services form part of Forward Carers’ wider network of support across the West Midlands and South-West.
The review provides an opportunity to explore both the local impact of services delivered in Dudley and the wider contribution that Carer support makes across communities.
Thank You
Thank you to the Carers, staff, volunteers, partners, commissioners and funders who have contributed to supporting unpaid Carers across Dudley during the past year.
Your insight, commitment and collaboration continue to help ensure Carers can access the information, advice and support they need.
Read the Impact Review
Whether you’re a Carer, a partner organisation, a commissioner or simply interested in supporting unpaid Carers, we invite you to explore the full Impact Review and learn more about the difference being made across Dudley and the wider Forward Carers network.