By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
KAYE Geere currently works full-time in a role she never studied for – she cares for her husband, an Alzheimer’s sufferer, 24 hours and seven days a week.
People like Ms Geere are recognised by the annual Carers Day Out in Berwick. They’re unpaid carers who dedicate their lives to looking after their loved ones.
She was one of over 200 people who attended the event at the Old Cheese Factory on Friday, which recognised the work of carers throughout Casey, Cardinia and Dandenong and gave them the opportunity to relax and put their feet up.
It was Ms Geere’s first Carers Day and she said it was something she had been looking forward to for a while.
“I’m really enjoying it, I’ve booked in for a blood pressure check and I’ll go around and see what else is on. There’s massages as well, I’m really enjoying a bit of pampering,” she said at the event.
“I think it’s very, very important that any carer can get as much support as we can.”
Ms Geere said it was integral for carers to know where they could turn to for extra help and events like the Carers Day Out, now into its third year, provided this opportunity.
“It took me a long time to find a lot of support because I wasn’t in Hallam (anymore), we’re in a retirement village now and I had to find my way around, so I was really working in the dark,” she said.
“But when you get leaflets about something like this, then why not?”
The special day for carers, sponsored by a wide range of service providers, was held in the picturesque Old Cheese Factory gardens with Melbourne turning on a beautiful day for the occasion.
Running from 10am until 2pm, carers were treated to a range of pampering and therapeutic activities, including massages, art and crafts, live music, meditation, health checks and many others.
Julie Knowles, Windermere’s Manager of Disability Services, said the day had a little bit of everything for those special people who took care of the ones who needed it most.
“It’s really about recognising carers and saying thankyou to carers for the unpaid hours that they put in,” she said.
Ms Knowles, who also sits on the Carers Day Out Committee, believes the event puts a public face on the important role carers have in society.
“Something like one seventh of all the care in Australia is paid for by the government, the rest is provided by private carers. Even when the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) rolls out in 2016, we’ll still be in a situation where it’s only two sevenths that are covered,” Ms Knowles said.
“The reality is that care is provided by family members and loved ones and without them people just wouldn’t survive.”
Sue Wood, Metro Access Disability Inclusion Officer, was one of the driving forces behind the original Carers Day and couldn’t speak more highly of its therapeutic effect on participants.
“We looked at what the needs were for carers in our area and there was a great need for them to get connected with the community,” Ms Wood, who is also part of the committee, said.
“The first year Casey, Cardinia and Dandenong councils got together and we had our first Carers Day Out at Akoonah Park and what we wanted to do was have a day where we could acknowledge carers for the contribution they give the community in caring for people.
“And also give them a chance to think about themselves.”
