On 12th December 2023, we held our Annual General Meeting at Gateshead Library. As a charity, we are obligated to hold this meeting once per year to highlight our impact, appoint new trustees, and review our financial statements. We brought Gateshead's community of carers together once again to reflect on the year and look forward to what the future holds.

Our Chair of Trustees Steps Down

Our Chair of Trustees, David Clelland, steps down from the role after 10 years of being a trustee, 7 of which leading as the Chair. We celebrated his fantastic accomplishments and thanked him dearly.

The impact of our support in 2023

• £610,795 Benefits achieved for carers.
• £142,000 Funding provided for carers through our Carer Wellbeing Fund.
• £16,035 Grant funding achieved for carers.
• 2435 Pieces of individual support work carried out.
• 1480 Carers accessed 1-2-1 confidential support.
• 567 Carers accessed support for the first time.
• 82 Wellbeing activity group sessions held.
• 18 BAME language communities supported.

Our impact on the lives of carers

After coming to us, carers reported that their;

• Mental health improved by 47%
• Self-confidence has increased by 42%
• Ability to cope with the demands of their caring role had improved by 34%
• Feeling of social isolation has reduced by 35%

Activity Sessions for Carers

After our reflections and review of 2023, we also hosted an activity-packed session with partner organisations of the Gateshead Carers Learning & Action Network (G-CLAN). Together we delivered a wide range of activities for carers, including;

• Art in Data: by SIGNAL
• I CARE! art project: Sharron Bailey
• Caring and Technology: Northumbria University
• Guided Discussions around caring: Gateshead Carers, Age UK Gateshead and Civinet