Carers Week - Scotland Briefing and Useful Resources

To mark Carers Week, which this year runs from 9th to 15th June 2025, Carers Scotland share a Scotland Briefing. We have included information on this below, alongside useful resources and services for Carers in Edinburgh.

Carers Week Scotland Briefing

As part of Carers Week 2025, Carers Scotland share a briefing which highlights the significant challenges unpaid carers face in Scotland.

Key messages

• 1 in 7 people in Scotland are currently providing unpaid care, with over 716,000 carers and 28,000 young carers.

  
  

• Carers face disproportionate financial hardship: 28% live in poverty, and 65% of those on carer-related benefits are struggling with essentials like food and heating.

  
  

• Employment is impacted: 24% of carers in Scotland have reduced working hours, and 15% have left work entirely due to caring responsibilities.

  
  

• Health inequalities are stark: 41% of carers report worsening physical or mental health, and over half struggle to maintain their own well being. Around a quarter (24%) of current or former carers said they had postponed or cancelled a medical appointment, test, scan, treatment or therapy because of caring

  
  

• Read the briefing at Scotland Briefing: Caring about Equality. The full Carers Week report can be found at www.carersweek.org.

  
  

Useful Resources for Edinburgh Advice Network Members

CPAG have a number of useful toolkits and resources for advising Carers. Check out:

• Benefits for Carers

• Advising Kinship Carers in Scotland

VOCAL (Voice of Carers Across Lothian) supports unpaid carers, offering services including information, advice, 1-1 support, counselling, advocacy, and welfare rights checks. They also offer information and support on legal issues such as Power of Attorney, Wills and Trusts.

• For full information on all their services see: Our Services

• Information for professionals including resources, training and referral information can be found at: Practitioners Supporting Carers

City of Edinburgh Council also provides support and advice to carers including One2one support; an Adult Carer Support Plan and Short Breaks.

• Find full details on their website at Carer Support and Advice

There are many other services in Edinburgh that provide specialist support to carers. VOCAL's Carer Support Finder is a useful tool for finding support services.