Unpaid carers urged not to miss grant opportunity
Unpaid carers entitled to a £500 one-off grant are being urged to get their application in soon.
Swansea Council has already paid out more than £1m to over 2,000 unpaid carers with 1,000 more applications being processed.
But there's an estimated 1,300 further unpaid carers who've not yet taken the chance to apply for the Welsh Government grant being administered by the council
Unpaid carers who were in receipt of Carers' Allowance on March 31 2022 or those who have a Carer's Allowance application in progress which is backdated to 31 March 2022 are eligible for the payment. However, people won't be eligible if they ONLY have a carer's premium / element paid within a means-tested benefit such as Universal Credit.
Anyone who thinks they may be eligible for the payment must apply for the grant online on Swansea Council's website here: www.swansea.gov.uk/unpaidcarersgrant
The application page - which includes details about who is eligible and who is not - opened on May 16. Registrations for the grant must be completed by 5pm on July 15.
Louise Gibbard, Cabinet Member for Care services, said it was good news that thousands of unpaid carers have already applied for the grant. But it was important nobody who is eligible misses out.
She said: I want to thank unpaid carers for their valuable role which often goes unrecognised. Their work now and during the pandemic makes a huge difference to those they support and to health and care services too."
Cllr Gibbard said: "We've already sent letters to carers who we think might be eligible to apply, encouraging them to consider registering for the grant. Hundreds more have also had their applications approved, with more to come.
"We're making it as straightforward as we can to register and we can provide support to anyone who cannot fill in the form themselves and has no-one to help them do it. We have also made local support groups and organisations aware they can fill in the form for the people they are assisting."
Anyone who believes they may be eligible for a grant must register for it. They'll then be assessed and a payment made if they are entitled to it.