By supporting us on our challenge, you will be helping unpaid Carers like Zadie.

Zadie*spends over 100 hours a week looking after her partner, who is 55.

He has Klinefelter syndrome with mental health, learning disability & autism which means he needs emotional support, assistance with medication, help with communication, and personal care.

As he is occasionally incontinent it was really difficult during lockdown when their washing machine broke. Zadie cares full time and is proud of the support and care she provides. The washing machine breaking caused her a lot of stress as she wanted to wash dirty laundry as soon as possible to keep the home hygienic.

Zadies neighbour offered to help, but as she has three children her washing machine was used a lot so Zadie didnt like to ask too much, also as it was lockdown transferring dirty clothes between homes was awkward.

Zadie ended up washing items by hand which took a long time to get them really clean. Zadie's local Carers Trust partner suggested she apply for a grant for a washing machine. Carers Trust assessed the application and approved the grant for £259 from Rank funding for a new machine.

This helped Zadie in her caring role & took the worry away from spending ages handwashing on-top of providing care for her partner.

*Name has been changed to protect privacy