We are celebrating our 30th anniversary this year at Carers of East Lothian.
You might have heard us mentioning pearls in relation to our 30th anniversary celebrations. This is because pearls are traditionally associated with 30 – year anniversaries. And like pearls, unpaid carers are valuable and often hidden from view. Using pearls as part of our celebrations was a very creative idea from one of our carers panel members.
Our craft group have made pearl ribbons to gift to carers and mark the anniversary. These ribbons have been given out to staff in the team who will gift them to carers at events running throughout the year. If you are wearing a ribbon, please tell people all about why. You might just help a carer to access support.
If you would like a ribbon, you can drop Gemma an email: gemma@coel.org.uk. We have a small amount left in the office and crafters willing to make more.
As well as the ribbons, we have a very creative team member who has decided to make a pearl sculpture that we will fill with ‘pearls of wisdom’ from one carer to another. We would love to hear from you if you’d like to share a pearl of wisdom. We are asking carers to answer the question:
“If you could give a piece of advice to a carer who was just starting out in their caring journey, what would it be?”
We will fill the sculpture with all of the pearls and open it later in the year. If you would like to get involved, please email Gemma with your ‘pearl of wisdom’ to be included on gemma@coel.org.uk