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As many as one in ten Bolton people are providing unpaid care, with many "put in a position we'd never dreamed of." This comes after a recent council meeting heard how 25,980 residents looking after someone without being paid. Speaking at the Health Overview and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee, Chair of Bolton Carers Support David Ruane shared his experiences of becoming a carer suddenly for his wife.
He said: “In January 2013, I became a carer overnight for my wife after she contracted a rare long-term neurological condition and was left paralysed. “It put us in a position we never thought we would be in or never dreamt of. Georgette Kay (centre front) and David Ruane (front right) represented Bolton Carers Support at the council meeting.
(Image: Bolton Council) “I phoned my mother; I didn’t comprehend the meaning of long-term. As we battled on, she’d been in hospital about four months, I tried to continue working as well as caring for my wife at the time. “Luckily, the company I worked for was very understanding and allowed me to reduce my hours to part time.
But it soon became clear that doing the two things at the same time would not be possible for me. “Soon after that I suffered from a heart attack, just as I’d finished working. I’d put down to the stresses of what was going on at that time as well, because I’d stopped working and the mortgage had been withdrawn, so we had lost the family home.
“This led to strained relationships, I carried on caring despite the ill health, as a typical male I thought this is my problem, nobody else understands, I’ll deal with it. Bolton Carers Support works with carers all over the borough (Image: Public) “I came to a head when I took my wife for a mental health assessment. The mental health assessor noted that perhaps I needed some help as well because things weren’t going well for me mentally either.
” After being referred to Bolton Carers Support, Mr Ruane was initially sceptical about whether he would be able to access the necessary support. He said: “I engaged with one of the workers there, it soon became apparent that my story, as shocking as I thought it was, its 24,000 other people. “It was like switching a light on, not being a carer, you don’t see what’s going on with the carers.
“That’s why I’m here today, I went as a reluctant service user and ended up as chair of the board of Bolton Carers Support. “It’s that driver for me that, knowing my own ignorance contributed to my ill health and not seeking the help I needed, if I can help people avoid that and if we can be there to talk somebody through that, that is what we’re here to do.” The statistics on unpaid carers in Bolton were put forward by Georgette Kay, Chief Officer at Bolton Carers Support and were based on previous census data.
The charity, which has been running for 31 years and supports around 5,5000 registered carers, also revealed that around 14,503 people in the borough were providing more than 20 hours of unpaid care in 2021. Another 8,601 Bolton residents were doing so for more than 50 hours a week. READ MORE: Bolton NHS Trust responds to NHS Staff Survey results Former Bolton A&E nurse to retire from NHS after 35 years Doctors get patients off NHS waiting lists in Bolton Bolton Carers Support has received funding of £105,732.
96 from Bolton Council for 2025/26 which will go towards a dedicated helpline and telephone befriending service for carers. The funding total equates to £4.07 per carer.
Additionally, the charity bought in £1,165,447.99 of external funding into the borough for carers since April 1 2020, to the time of writing. The council also heard that one of the biggest challenges facing the charity going forward is ensuring that the core organisational structure and helpline gains long term funding to ensure further external funding can be secured.
Two large National Lottery funding streams come to an end during the period and a decision has to be made on one future application, so the organisation is not competing against itself..
