My trip to Downing Street

On Tuesday 10^th September 2019 I joined Margaret (an Independent Age campaigner) and staff from Independent Age to deliver a petition to No. 10 Downing Street. The petition was calling on the Government to introduce free personal care for older people and has been signed by nearly 14,000 people.

Independent Age’s Campaigns team know that the Prime Minister is currently considering plans for the future of social care. So, now is a really important time to get involved with their free personal care campaign and show the Government how many people support this necessary change.

I think this campaign is very important, especially for people who still want to live in their home. Not everyone can afford to pay the fees for care homes but they still need to access the services. We spent over £5,500 a month on my mother-in-law’s care which meant she had to sell her home. With free personal care, she could have got support with essential activities like washing, getting dressed and going to the toilet in her own home for free. It’s likely she would still have had to move into a care home eventually, but free personal care would have meant she could have stayed in her home - which she had lived in for over 50 years - for longer, and it would have reduced the costs of her residential care.

I have been involved in this campaign for several months now. In April, I went to Parliament to speak to MPs about the importance of free personal care. I really enjoyed speaking to politicians and seeing how many of them supported Independent Age’s campaign.