Unpaid carers find respite with Carefree

Day-to-day, Rachel is looking after her husband’s parents as well as two of her adult sons, who have a mix of special educational needs and hidden disabilities.

“Being a carer becomes part of one’s life and without noticing it, it wears a person down,” she says.

The first time she went on a break with Carefree, she said it felt like “a giant hug”. For two nights, she could just focus on herself. It made her feel recognised. It made her feel cared-for, for a change.

Carefree is a small, impactful UK-based charity that transforms vacant hotel rooms into vital breaks for unpaid carers – the millions of people in the UK who look after loved ones with illness, disability or mental health conditions, often without rest.

Founded in 2017 with the support of Jewish foundations and hotel owners, it now offers over 10,000 respite breaks a year to carers nationwide through its multi-award-winning digital platform. All the accommodation is donated by Carefree’s hotel partners. Breaks are for 1-2 nights with breakfast included for a carer plus companion for a small admin fee of £33 toward the operating costs of the charity.

Three in five of us will become an unpaid carer at some point in our life. The charity believes that making it possible for every full-time unpaid carer to get access to a break when they need one is the first step towards building a more sustainable health and social care system that relies on unpaid carers to provide 80 percent of home care in the UK.

“Carers give so much of themselves, often quietly and without recognition, and it can take a real toll,” says Judy Dewinter, Chair of the Royal Free Charity. “That’s why Carefree’s work is so important; it gives carers a chance to rest and recharge. It’s simple and it works. We need more ideas like this in the health and care space.”.

After her break at The Norton Park Hotel in Winchester (which is well-used to hosting Jewish guests), Rachel has referred over 70 other carers from the Jewish community for a break, with 20 having already taken one.

She says: “The break taught me that I need to take more care of myself and prioritise time out so l can take better care of others.”

Carefree CEO Charlotte Newman says that the charity’s success has been down to making it easy for hotels to donate their forecast excess capacity. So far, the charity has given away 14,000 breaks valued at £3.85m and has registered 35,000 carers.

If you’re a carer in need of a respite break or you manage a hotel that would like to make a difference to people’s lives, it’s easy to sign up at carefreespace.org.