Hello, I'm Sarah Wagstaff, Carers Manager

It has been a real privilege to spend time supporting and championing our family carers at Reach. Over the past 18 months I’ve learnt so much about the challenges and barriers carers face, but also about the incredible resilience and tenacity of families fighting for the very best for their loved ones.

Family, travelling, and keeping healthy are all important to me, and I believe that both my lived experience and professional nursing background in learning disability and mental health settings will help me build strong, trusting relationships with family carers. I’m here to offer guidance, a listening ear, and to signpost to support wherever I can.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many carers at our social events and, more recently, on the Reach holiday at Gunton Hall. It has also been rewarding to support families in securing the help they need from adult social care — whether that’s increasing support hours or planning a move into supported living.

Last year, a significant amount of time was spent helping people transition to Universal Credit and supporting other benefit claims. This was a completely new area for me, so I’m grateful to Reach for enabling me to undertake comprehensive and ongoing training in welfare benefits. It has been encouraging to see positive outcomes from these claims. Alongside reducing care contributions, many families and individuals have been able to improve their income — in some cases by a considerable amount.

This year’s national Carers Week theme is Building Carer Friendly Communities. I think we can all feel proud of the work we do at Reach to make this a reality. We are always looking for ways to make things the best they can be, so please do get in touch if you have any thoughts or ideas about how we can support you further."

If you or anyone you know is caring for somebody with a learning disability, please do reach out to me any time by email at sarah.wagstaff@reachuk.org.