By the Taradale Caring For Carers support group

For us family carers, having the time or the energy to pamper ourselves is a very rare thing!

Often we don’t have enough ‘fuel in the tank’ to look after our own needs. The Carer Pamper Day, a Presbyterian Support East Coast social service for Hawke’s Bay family carers, is a very special treat for us.

Many family carers in Hawke’s Bay were lucky to attend the event this August. The half day event was about pampering unpaid family carer. The 50 attending carers received bubbly on arrival, a yummy morning tea and lunch, and a choice of back and hand massages, Bowen therapy, hand spa or reflexology sessions.
What we liked the most besides all the lovely pampering was the opportunity to have some time out, to meet others in a similar situation and share our stories. The day helped us carers feel validated, recognised, and supported.
We all won a spot prize on the day ranging from hand crèmes to lunch vouchers, another way to extend the pampering after the event. We felt excited about our goodie bags filled with various treats and additional vouchers for more pampering sessions such as make up.

What makes the day a true pamper day is the great support from dedicated, community minded practitioners who provided the bodywork sessions for us.
These lovely people have been supporting the event for the last four years; a big thank you, to those practitioners from all the carers who enjoyed their fantastic, therapeutic sessions.

A big thank you also to the individuals and businesses who donated items for our ‘goodie’ bags and spot prizes.

We all look forward to the Pamper Day as one of the highlights of the year, a day with the focus on us, OUR wellbeing. For some it is a very scarce opportunity because of the demands of our care giving responsibilities.

Some of us also attend the monthly support group meetings in Hastings or Taradale. If we can’t make it to meetings we are still connected by the monthly Caring for Carers newsletter.

All family carers are welcome to come along to a monthly meeting to experience the support of the group. Caring for Carers is a wonderful free service with no official joining process.

Feeling the need for support and time out from your daily chores as carer is the only criteria. As carers we understand at depth the journey and the challenges individuals go through as family carers. Caring for Carers supports those who are on this difficult journey.

Please contact Taradale group representative Norma on 06 8768865 or service co-ordinator Ingrid Bryant on 06 8778193 ext. 730 to find out more about our Hawke’s Bay support groups for family carers.