A Barnsley-based provider of carer support has been gifted £5000 worth of promotional merchandise to help raise awareness for their free ‘life saving’ emotional support.
Founded in 2000, Beacon South Yorkshire provides physical and emotional support to anyone in the region that is caring for someone with substance misuse, a disability, mental health challenges, dementia or is elderly.
Recognised for their wide range of support — which includes therapeutic massages, yoga, counselling, therapy, group training, morning coffee socials and one-to-one support — Beacon South Yorkshire is free-to-all, giving carers essential respite from their daily challenges.
‘Beacon South Yorkshire is a place where carers can come and just forget the outside world,’ says Support Worker Manager, Kerry Lawton. ‘It’s their place, their hour, their coffee morning and their time to relax.
‘There are carers out there that don’t even realise they’re carers. It’s important that they recognise they’re not alone… that there is support for them.’
Amid continuing strain on public services, the number of carers accessing Beacon South Yorkshire’s support has grown sharply over the last two years, meaning the recruitment of new volunteers is an ongoing priority.
Described as life-saving by its users, Linda Green, a carer from Barnsley, opened-up about how different things might have been had she not discovered Beacon South Yorkshire.
‘I wouldn’t be here. End of. I think i would’ve committed suicide long ago. I wasn’t coping at all. I had all my tablets in a pile and i was going to take them all. Then I came to Beacon, and now, all my tablets are in their boxes where they should be.’
Equally grateful for the support he received, Peter Deakin, a carer from Barnsley, said, ‘Beacon saved my life. I’m not sure I’d be here if it wasn’t for Beacon. What I had to deal with was a lot of hard work and not something I was doing very well at, so to find Beacon and spend so much time with people who completely and totally understand made all the difference. I don’t know what I would be doing if it wasn’t for Beacon.’
To support Beacon South Yorkshire’s ongoing recruitment of volunteers and keep the team cosy this winter, local branded merchandise company, GoPromotional, recently donated a £5000 package of pens, keyrings, pads, flasks, blankets, thermal jackets and more — all fully branded and embroidered with Beacon’s colours, logo and contact information.
Speaking on their commitment to supporting local organisations that are making life-changing impacts on the community, GoPromotional’s Director of Operations Jessica Bane Thompson said, ‘At the heart of our culture is contribution. Every year, we do what we can to support those hidden local organisations that are doing life-changing work.
‘Last week, new research from the Centre for Care at the University of Sheffield suggests 12,000 people in the UK become unpaid carers every day, with an estimated 570,000 unpaid carers in Yorkshire and the Humber alone. Carer support charities like Beacon South Yorkshire bring light to people in dark times, and we’re honoured to support their remarkable work.’
Now recruiting volunteers for 2023, among the qualities they screen for, Beacon prioritises one trait in particular.
‘We work with empathy not sympathy,’ notes Lynda McDermott, funding and service manager.
‘95% of our volunteers were, at one point in their life, beneficiaries of Beacon South Yorkshire’s support, so they’re highly empathetic,’ she continues.
‘Having achieved the development goals they set themselves while with us, they wished to give something back to their community.
‘We’re the only organisation in the community that does what we do, and without volunteers, we couldn’t run the service.’
To apply to become a Beacon South Yorkshire volunteer, call 01226 814 012 or email info@beaconsy.org.uk
Published on: December 5th, 2022
