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TECH CHARITY CAREFREE REPORTS 50% INCREASE IN DONATED CARER BREAKS IN 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAREFREE HQ, LONDON
Carer tech charity, Carefree, has mobilised £1m of gifted carer breaks to 4000 carers in 2024 thanks to a swelling of support from the hospitality industry for its cause.
Unpaid carers contribute £162 bn of social care value every year (Carers UK). Yet 68% are not able to access a break when they need one according to Carers Trust.
Abigail Tan, CEO of St Giles Hotels said:
"Unpaid carers are the real caring economy, delivering an unacknowledged but critical level of care across the country.”
St Giles is one of 13 hotel groups to join the initiative, who are collectively offering 1-2 night breaks with breakfast included for full-time unpaid carers and their companion in nearly 200 hotels across the country.
In addition to increased commitments from existing partners to bolster its growth, key new Carefree partners in 2024 include, Atlas Hotels - the UK’s largest franchisee of Holiday Inn Express and Greene King - through their Venture Hotels business.
The charity believes that getting unpaid carers a break through leveraging the hotel industry’s natural excess capacity is the only way to solve the problem of access to carer respite without adding any additional cost to the public purse.
Carefree CEO said:
“While the deadlock on how to fix social care continues at the government level, the hotel industry has shown that new solutions can be forged through new economic models and proactive collaboration.”
Access to respite breaks for unpaid carers has traditionally been a complex and unusually difficult challenging process owing to availability, funding and specific eligibility criteria. However, through Carefree’s approach, they are able to access a growing range of break opportunities across the UK after completing a simple online self-referral process.
So far 27,000 carers have signed up to Carefree. 88% that have taken a break with Carefree say they couldn’t have taken a break without their service. 95% report improved wellbeing and 86% are better able to cope with their caring role.
The charity is looking forward to celebrating its milestone of delivering 10,000 breaks since its formation in October, where it will also be launching its first media campaign, directed by Award-Winning Filmmaker Jason Smith, to raise awareness of the importance of carer breaks.
For more information, please get in touch with the team at Carefree.
Charlotte Newman I CEO I charlotte@carefreespace.org I https://carefreespace.org/
To join the event, please RSVP at: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/carefree1/1373615
ABOUT CAREFREE
Carefree transforms vacant rooms into vital breaks for unpaid carers. The offer is available to full-time unpaid carers (aged over 18, providing 30+ hours of care per week), who can book an annual break for themselves and a companion of 1-2 nights with breakfast included via the Carefree platform for a token admin fee of £33 towards the charity’s operating costs.
Each break has an average commercial rate card value of £275, meaning that the charity has mobilised £2.7m of gifted accommodation for the social care sector to date.
The charity has had a unique journey since inception in 2017, collaborating with 60 local carer support organisations to refer carers, multiple tech and no-code software companies to provide different parts of Carefree’s online platform, as well as the hotel groups who donate a portion of their excess capacity.
It’s been largely funded by The City Bridge Foundation, The National Lottery Fund, The Postcode Innovation Trust and The Swire Charitable Trusts and its small team has won multiple awards for its digital and social innovation in both the travel and third sectors.
PARTICIPATING HOTEL GROUPS
4C Group I Atlas Hotels I Axiom Hospitality I Bespoke Hotels I Cycas Hospitality I Greene King I Imperial Hotels London I Nobu Hotel Shoreditch I The Q Hotels Collection I Rockery Hall Hotel & Spa I Sleeperz Hotels I St Giles Hotels I Village Hotels
FURTHER INFORMATION
Carefree one pager: https://caref.re/4gNiFKY
Latest Carefree Impact Report: https://caref.re/3xYzj8p
Press Kit for Brand Assets/ Images / Team Bios: https://newsroom.carefreespace.org/press-kit
Carer and hotel group case studies available upon request