Family Carers Return to Work Course 2022

Care Alliance Ireland, supported by Pobal and the Department of Social Protection, are delighted to announce that applications are now open for a 12-week training course for family carers (caring for a family member, friend or neighbour) who are considering returning to the workforce in the near future. This will be the third cohort of participants. Formal evaluation data from Cohort 1 demonstrate strong course efficacy. Participants reported material positive impact under a range of domains including life satisfaction, opportunities for employment, reduced isolation and loneliness and increased social support. They also report significant increases in employment knowledge and skills. Six of the 16 participants from Cohort 1 are now in paid employment.

Kaleidoscope (Cohort 3) commences on Thursday 13^th January 2022 and will finish on Thursday 7^th April 2022.

The sessions will focus on:

• Building confidence to return to paid employment
• CV building and interview skills
• Caring for yourself (including access to 1:1 coaching, welfare, recruitment and business supports)
• Identify and manage your ‘working’ and ‘caring’ role
• Develop social media and networking skills
• Developing a personalised return-to-work plan

This course is for family carers

• Not currently in paid employment
• Able to commit to a 2½ hour online session per week

(Thursdays 10am-12.30pm)

• Able to commit up to 3 hours offline ‘homework’ per week
• Able to use/committed to learning how to use Zoom and have a robust internet connection

The course runs weekly, over 12 weeks. The course content and delivery is valued at approximately €2,500 per participant. However, we are delighted to offer this course free of charge to successful applicants.

Below is some qualitative feedback we’ve received from both current and previous Kaleidoscope participants:

Getting the welcome box was like ‘someone wrapping their arms around you and giving you a hug” (Participant at Week 1 check in)

Can I just say thank you for being such a brilliant course facilitator, you are fantastic at leading groups and so nice to have lovely caring people like yourself and Aisling dealing with us, that was not an easy job!” (Participant at the end of Cohort 1)

Thank you so much. And can I just say a huge thanks for the beautiful hamper,  I’m overwhelmed by the kindness and thoughtfulness (Cohort 2)

I just want to say thank you very much for hosting a very emotional yet uplifting and enjoyable morning, wow, I was absorbed in everyone’s stories and found I could relate to something everyone of the other girls said, some I felt were or have walked in my shoes. If session one is the benchmark I can’t wait for rest. I feel this course was sent to me (participant ater Week 1 of Cohort 2)

If you think this course would be of benefit to any of the family carers that you work with I would appreciate it if you could pass this information on to them. If they have enquiries and/or want to register their interest please ask them to email Lisa at: kaleidoscope@carealliance.ie

*Replacement care costs for Thursday mornings are available on request