Every day, Carers in Bedfordshire staff and volunteers speak to carers on the phone, online and in person. Did you know that in 2021, we had 37,000 interactions with over 6,200 carers?
"The lady I speak with has been the most helpful person to me"
But what goes on behind the scenes?
To make Carers in Bedfordshire’s work possible, there’s a need for back-office staff and volunteers too. From manning reception to managing our finances, there’s a small team that keeps everything running smoothly.
However, we try to keep administration costs as low as possible and we’re proud to share the work we’ve done to be more efficient and make sure that we’re giving as many hours as possible to supporting carers.
Thanks to a generous £20,600 grant from The Harpur Trust and a £15,000 grant from the Masonic Charitable Foundation, we’ve updated our website and database, and streamlined administration processes. For example:
- Our welcome packs are being sent to new carers automatically. With nearly 200 carers registering with us each month, we estimate that we’ll save over two weeks of admin time per year.
- Online booking makes it easier for carers to book onto an event at any time of day. It also helps us to manage attendance more efficiently.
In 2021, 51 volunteers gave nearly 3,450 hours of their time – the equivalent of nearly two full-time members of staff. We’re recruiting more volunteers all the time to help us support carers even more efficiently.
