About us
Our history
Wigan and Leigh Carers Centre is an is an established, successful and well-respected independent registered charity (1138908) supporting unpaid carers who look after people living in Wigan borough.
We were established in 2010 and are Network Partners of Carers Trust and Carers UK.
We make support and services available for all of Wigan’s unpaid adult carers, young carers, professionals and employers who work with carers.
Local community relationships are extremely important to us and mean we can offer carers the best accessible services, wherever they live in the borough and surrounding areas. We work in partnership with local statutory agencies and other voluntary organisations to deliver our services to the highest level.
In November 2020 Wigan and Leigh Carers Centre merged with Wigan and Leigh Young Carers to become a recognised centre of excellence, providing ‘one voice for carers’.
Our mission, our vison
Carers are at the heart of everything we do. We care deeply about making it our mission to make a positive difference to the lives of both young and adult carers in Wigan borough.
Our primary aim will always be a commitment to the needs of carers, respecting their wishes and choices about how they want to receive care and support. We will always look at the individual and what’s important to them in their life.
Our vision is to empower carers with a range of support and life opportunities. All carers should feel enabled to fulfil their caring role as effectively and happily as possible. We never lose sight of what’s important to carers such as activities, hobbies and their personal choices, and we actively seek to gather these views. These details are a valuable guide and will ensure we provide the best possible support to enrich carer’s lives.
We believe that carers themselves are the most powerful force to shape the delivery of our services. In everything we do, we are led by carers, ensuring they have choice, control, and a voice as experts in care.
Wigan and Leigh Carers Centre represents carers and raises awareness of caring, working with local communities, organisations and service providers to build a carer-friendly Wigan.
Who is considered a carer?
Three in five of us will be a carer at some point in our lives. There are an estimated 31,000 people in Wigan who are recognised as a carer. Anyone can become a carer; carers come from all walks of life, all cultures and can be any age. A carer is anyone providing help to a friend, neighbour or relative who could not manage without them because of illness, frailty, addiction or disability.
A young carer is a child or young person carrying out significant caring tasks and assuming a level of responsibility for another person which would normally be taken by an adult.
People often don’t recognise themselves as ‘carers’, they just think of themselves as helping out and often perform their role out of love or friendship.
Carers do not receive a salary. Sometimes the term ‘carer’ can get mixed up for those who work for care agencies and care homes.
For some, being a carer will be a relatively short part of their lives but for others their caring role may last for many decades: in all cases, we are here to support carers.
How we can help
We know caring can be a very demanding and often isolating role, so we are here to make life a little easier by tailoring the help, support and advice to each person’s unique situation. We will work with you, alongside other support services, to find the support that’s right for you and the person you care for.
We provide our services around the Wigan and Leigh Borough including community venues and recreational areas, as well as from our Carers Centre hub at 3–5 Frederick Street, Hindley. All of our services are free of charge (or subsidised) and confidential.
If you wish to register with us, your name will be added to our database of carers which means that you will receive regular mailings about news, events and activities. To register, please click here.
What we offer
- Drop-in information, advice and support at the Carers Centre in Hindley (Monday to Friday, 9.00 am – 4.30 pm). Information and advice also via email or over the telephone. Once per month, late evening open drop in, first Monday of every month and open until 7 pm.
- One-to-one support – ‘signposting’ with emotional and practical advice from our trained triage team.
- Carer’s Assessments (on behalf of Wigan Council) for carers who look after an adult who lives in Wigan.
- Emergency Carers’ Cards to give carers peace of mind with additional benefits.
- Benefits signposting and form filling assistance (DLA, PIP etc).
- Befriending.
- Carer’s respite services, health and wellbeing and events.
- Counselling (CBT or person-centred)
- Carer’s bereavement support.
- Monthly newsletter and regular social media updates with the latest carer news and events.
- Workshops and access to the Training Grant.
- Special events for carers, including Carers Week and Young Carers Action Day.
- Support for Young Carers and Young Adult Carers – Assessments, Respite and Support.
A voice for carers
Caring can be extremely complicated to navigate and it is our hope that we can make the journey just a little bit easier. If you are a carer, you are not alone and we are here for you.
All carers should be recognised, valued and supported, and we place carers at the heart of our services and all we do. Ensuring our organisation is carer-led helps us develop services that strive to improve the quality of life for Wigan’s carers (aged five and above).
Every month, Carer Voice is held at different venues around the Borough – organised by Wigan Borough Carers. Carers and loved ones are welcome to attend to share their views and have their say. Events will be posted on social media and emailed out to carers.
Compliments and complaints
You can download a copy of our Compliments and Complaints Procedure here: Compliments and Complaints Procedure Feb 2024
We care about the experience you have with us. Your feedback helps us continually improve our services.
By providing feedback on your experience of interacting with our services and staff, you are helping us understand where we are doing well and where we may need to focus our attention. Give us your feedback.
We value feedback on any aspect of our work. If you would like to compliment a member of staff, the work we do or the services we provide, please tell us.
If you are unhappy with our service, you can make a complaint. We have tried to make our complaint process as simple as possible, but if you need any help, please let us know.
Our commitment to you
- We will deal with your complaint politely and in confidence.
- It will be looked into thoroughly, fairly and as quickly as possible.
- We will keep you up to date with what we are doing.
- We will apologise if we have made a mistake.
- We will tell you what we are going to do to put things right.