Am I a carer according to The Carers' Centre?
Yes — if you help look after a partner, friend or family member who could not manage alone, The Carers' Centre counts you as a carer. The charity's definition does not require you to provide round-the-clock care, live with the person, or be related to them. It also does not require you to call yourself a carer. What matters is that you are helping someone who needs support because of old age, illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction.
The Carers' Centre is a small, local charity that supports unpaid carers. Below is how it splits up the people it helps, so you can find the description that fits you.
The charity's working definition of a carer
The Carers' Centre describes the people it supports as anyone "helping to look after a loved one." Two details in that description do most of the work:
- The help can be any amount. The charity explicitly includes both round-the-clock care and ad-hoc help, such as doing some shopping or taking someone to an appointment.
- The person you help could not manage alone. The care is needed because of old age, illness, disability, mental health problems or addiction.
If both of those apply to you, you fall inside the charity's scope — whether or not you use the word "carer" about yourself.
Which group do you fit?
The Carers' Centre lists six routes into its services. Find the one that matches your situation:
| If you are… | The charity's description | What it offers |
|---|---|---|
| An adult looking after someone | You help a partner, friend or family member who couldn't manage alone, and you are over 18 | Support for adult carers |
| An adult looking after a child | You are a parent or guardian over 18, caring for a child with additional needs | Support for parent carers |
| A young person looking after someone | You help look after someone in your family or a friend, and you are under 18 | Support for young carers |
| A parent or guardian of a young carer | You are the parent or guardian of a young person who looks after someone | Support for the family around a young carer |
| Someone who works with carers | You work in education, health or another sector and have contact with carers | Information about the charity's services |
| Someone who knows a carer | You recognise someone caring for another person and want to help | Guidance on how the charity supports carers |
The first three rows describe carers themselves. The last three describe people who are connected to a carer rather than providing the care — useful if you are looking on someone else's behalf.
Two things people get wrong
"I only help occasionally, so I'm not really a carer." The Carers' Centre's own wording rules this out. Ad-hoc help like shopping or driving someone to an appointment is named as caring. You do not need to be providing full-time care to qualify.
"I'm under 18, so this isn't for me." It is. The charity has a separate route for young people under 18 who look after someone in their family or a friend, and a further route for the parents and guardians of those young carers.
What to do next
- Pick the description above that matches you — adult carer, parent carer, young carer, or someone connected to a carer.
- Use that route on The Carers' Centre site to see the specific support available to you.
- If you are unsure which applies, the deciding question is simply: are you helping someone who couldn't manage alone? If yes, start with the adult carer route (or the young carer route if you are under 18).
The charity also runs a self-help service called Bridgit Care, launched to support unpaid adult carers, which is worth checking if you want to start with something lighter than a formal referral.