Rachel Miller
Rachel's fundraiser for Carer Support South Lakes
Fundraising for Carer Support South Lakes
Story
History of the challenge
The full Keswick to Kendal Challenge (K2K) covers 30 miles through some of the best scenery in the English Lake District. The idea of a walk from Keswick to Kendal to raise funds for unpaid Carers began with Stuart Graves during the covid pandemic in 2020/21. Stuart is both an unpaid Carer and the volunteer leader of the CSSL Male Carers Group.
In response to the particular challenges he, and the male Carers he was supporting, were experiencing during lockdown he decided to create this event to raise the profile of all unpaid Carers in the South Lakes.
As soon as lockdown restrictions were sufficiently relaxed, Stuart began to push his plans forward in earnest and by June of 2021, the first ever CSSL K2K relay was launched. Stuart walked all 30 miles himself, with 6 members of the Male Carers Support Group forming a relay team that supported him across all of the 7 stages.
The covid pandemic was a real battle for so many unpaid Carers, struggling to look after their Cared For on their own for months on end with no opportunity for respite. Even now, 3 years after the pandemic, the situation has remained extremely challenging as care services and organisations still struggle to cope with the increasing numbers of people requiring access to their help.
CSSL supports over 1600 unpaid Carers of all ages (men, women, boys and girls) who look after a loved one, often fulltime, without payment. Their role is vital to the health and wellbeing of their Cared For but more often than not, it goes completely unseen and unsupported.
By participating in this year’s 4th K2K I will be walking to acknowledge that struggle and to help make others more aware.
The date for this year’s K2K is Saturday 8th June 2024, the weekend between National Volunteers Week and National Carers Week.
The money you will be raising really does make a huge difference to those unpaid Carers in the South Lakes that CSSL supports.
Recent feedback from one of our Young Carers:
I first discovered climbing about a year ago when my friend introduced me so that he could have someone to go with, and since then, climbing every Saturday became the absolute highlight of my week. I'd cycle there and then climb for about 4-5 Hours, not having to worry about home or school life and being able to take a break from my responsibilities of taking care of my 9-year-old sister who has down syndrome and as such, always requires attention.
My hands would get more and more painful but being able to progress through the colours and challenging myself just meant I had such a great time. However, over the summer I stopped going so much, I was put off by the price you had to pay every time you entered, which started to build up. However, recently, my support worker at Young Carers offered a contribution towards an annual climbing membership, allowing me to go to the wall as many times as I like.
This has already completely changed my week and I have built a social group around the wall, with a few friends who also have memberships and attend regularly. This would not have been possible without fundraising - thank you so much to the donors who have made this possible
Carer Support South Lakes
Each year we work with more than 1,800 unpaid Carers, 200 are Young Carers providing access to information, emotional support, advocacy, financial support & opportunities to take a break. Your donations, whether large or small, make a huge difference to unpaid Carers in our Community.