Are you one of Liverpool's hidden carers?

We’re proud to be supporting a powerful new awareness campaign designed to uncover Liverpool’s “hidden carers”, launching across the city in the run-up to and during National Carers Week (8 to 14 June), using public messages and community partnerships to spark conversation and encourage people to seek support.

The campaign, created by LJMU charity partner Local Solutions and Liverpool Carers Centre, centres around one simple idea that thousands of people across Liverpool are caring for loved ones every single day without ever recognising themselves as carers.

Instead, they say things like:

• “I just check in on my mum every day.”
• “I just fit everything around work.”
• “I just make sure they’re not alone.”

The campaign, titled “Am I a carer? I just…”, aims to challenge that thinking and help people realise that the support they quietly provide to family members, partners, neighbours and friends matters, and that support is available for them too.

We’re proud at LJMU to be displaying some of the thought-provoking messages across our campus digital screens, meanwhile other messaging will begin appearing across Liverpool using reverse graffiti - a form of street advertising where messages are cleaned into dirty pavements rather than painted onto them – so lookout for them in high-footfall areas across the city.

The charity hopes the campaign will become a city-wide movement that helps hidden carers feel recognised earlier - before reaching crisis point.

One of the biggest challenges is that many people simply don’t see themselves as carers. They see what they do as ‘just helping out’ or ‘just being there’ for somebody they love. But behind those words are people who are exhausted, overwhelmed, isolated, struggling financially, juggling work and caring responsibilities, and often putting themselves last.

Jen Snell, Head of Business Development & Impact at Local Solutions

“We wanted to create a campaign that felt impossible to ignore — something simple, human and emotionally honest that would stop people in their tracks and make them think: 'Actually… that is me'. 

“The reverse graffiti element felt particularly powerful because it reflects exactly what this campaign is trying to do - reveal something that was already there but hidden in plain sight.”

How to access help as a carer

Liverpool Carers Centre supports unpaid carers across the city with practical advice, emotional support, wellbeing services and information designed to help carers manage the impact of their caring role.

Local Solutions delivers Liverpool Carers Centre and supports thousands of people across the Liverpool City Region each year.

Contact Liverpool Carers Centre for support