What is Bridgit Care, the self-help service from The Carers' Centre?
Bridgit Care is a self-help service launched by The Carers' Centre to support unpaid adult carers. The Carers' Centre describes it as "a new self-help service to support unpaid adult carers" and invites people to "give Bridgit a go." If you are an adult looking after a partner, friend or family member who could not manage alone, Bridgit Care is the part of The Carers' Centre's offer aimed at you. Beyond that description, the homepage does not explain how the service works, what it includes, or how to access it — so treat the points below as what is confirmed, plus what to check next.
Who Bridgit Care is for
The Carers' Centre groups the people it helps into six categories, and Bridgit Care sits within the adult carer group:
| Group | Who it covers |
|---|---|
| Adult looking after someone | You help a partner, friend or family member who couldn't manage alone, and you're over 18 |
| Adult looking after a child | You're a parent or guardian over 18, caring for a child with additional needs |
| Young person looking after someone | You help look after someone in your family or a friend, and you're under 18 |
| Parent or guardian of a young carer | You're the parent or guardian of a young person who looks after someone |
| Professional working with carers | You work in education, health or another sector and have contact with carers |
| Someone who knows a carer | You recognise someone caring for another person and want to help |
Bridgit Care is specifically for the first group: unpaid adult carers. The Carers' Centre notes that caring can mean round-the-clock care or ad-hoc help, such as doing some shopping or taking someone to an appointment — so you don't need to provide full-time care to count.
What "self-help" means here
The Carers' Centre frames Bridgit Care as self-help, which distinguishes it from services where you're matched with a staff member or volunteer. The label suggests you use it yourself, at your own pace, rather than waiting for an appointment or referral. That fits the Centre's wider positioning as "a small, local charity, set up to support anyone who is helping to look after a loved one."
What the homepage does not say:
- Whether Bridgit Care is an app, a website, a phone line, a set of guides, or something else
- Whether it is free, or whether any part of it requires payment or registration
- Whether it is limited to people in Bath and North East Somerset, or open more widely
- What topics or tools it covers
How to find out more and try it
The homepage's call to action is simply "Give Bridgit a go!" — so the next step is to follow that link from The Carers' Centre's site rather than rely on second-hand descriptions.
- Go to banescarerscentre.org.uk and find the Bridgit Care announcement in the news or services area.
- Open the Bridgit Care page or link to see what the service actually is and what it asks of you.
- Check any eligibility or sign-up requirements before starting, since the homepage doesn't state them.
- If the tool doesn't answer your question, use the Centre's "I'm an adult looking after someone" pathway to see the rest of its support for adult carers.
Where Bridgit Care fits in the wider picture
The Carers' Centre has been running for 30 years and describes itself as supporting anyone looking after a partner, friend or family member due to old age, illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction. Alongside Bridgit Care, its homepage highlights practical help such as guidance on coping in hot weather, fundraising through Easy Fundraising, and advocacy work — a local carer and member of its "Carer's Voice" advisory group attended the Prime Minister's launch of the Big Conversation on social care reform.
For an adult carer who wants something to use independently, Bridgit Care is the entry point to check first. For anything involving a child, a young carer, or a professional referral, the other pathways on the site are the relevant ones.