Team Members: Emma Aldridge, Heidi Hennessy, Laura Hutchings and Michael Shann

4 of the Carers UK Staff are joining #TeamCarers and taking on this festive challenge because it is predicted everyone will be impacted by caring in their life time and we want to raise awareness for the vital contribution carers make to society.

1 in 8 adults in the UK are providing unpaid care for a loved one; this could be your father, sister, best friend or the colleague you sit next to every day. They could be juggling looking after their elderly parent while managing a full time job, they could have to give up work in order to care for their disabled child or suddenly have their lives changed when their partner needs care.

Caring is such an important part of life. Its simply part of being human. Carers are holding families together, enabling loved ones to get the most out of life and making an enormous contribution to society and saving the UK government £132 billion a year.

However caring can be a hugely challenging, its impacts on all aspects of life from relationships and health to finances and work should not be underestimated.

Carers are 7 times more likely to experience loneliness with 75% of carers experiencing poor mental health.

Carer UK is here to support unpaid carers :

- Giving expert advice, information and support to make sure everyone gets the right advice from the start.

- Connecting carers so no-one has to care alone, through carers' groups and volunteers they're reaching out in local communities throughout the UK and online.

- Innovate to find new ways to reach and support carers and improve services throughout the UK.

Please support our fantastic team to get us over that finish line!