BizzyBox Lending Project

Carers Network's unique BizzyBox Lending Project has now been supporting unpaid carers in central London for over two and a half years!

There are over 130 carers registered on the online lending library, with more than 225 product loans to date.

The library of activity products are taken on request to 5 different monthly coffee mornings that Carers Network runs in the City of Westminster, The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. This gives carers across these boroughs the opportunity to borrow and return items at various venues throughout each month.

These include local carers like Caroline, who recently swapped a sewing machine that she borrowed for ‘Arthur’ a musical teddy bear therapy device. This has been specially designed to improve cognizance and engagement, and her son who is living with a learning disability very much enjoys using the device!

As well as being an opportunity to borrow therapy products such as this, these coffee mornings are a fantastic opportunity for carers to get together, socialise, provide each other with peer support, and speak to members of Carers Network’s staff team for help and advice.

Opportunities to meet at such coffee mornings help to reduce the social isolation that carers often face due to their demanding day-to-day caring roles, as well as providing carers with a very well-earned break and some time for themselves so that they can re-charge.

Your continued generosity has helped us to expand and keep running this project so that more carers can enjoy coming to coffee mornings, socialise together and then borrow products from the library to enjoy with their loved ones at home.

The year has continued apace for Carers Network's BizzyBox Lending Project!

There are now over 130 carers registered on the lending library, with more than 220 product loans to date.

The library activity products are now taken on request to coffee mornings in the City of Westminster, The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, so that carers in each borough have the opportunity to borrow/return items.

As well as being an opportunity to borrow products, these coffee mornings enable carers to get together, socialise, provide each other with peer support, and speak to members of Carers Network’s staff team for help and advice.

Our BizzyBox coffee morning in Earl’s Court is run in partnerships with Turning Point’s Drug and Alcohol Wellbeing Service, giving carers an opportunity to engage with their services as well.

At the last meeting of group, we hosted a fun general knowledge quiz with small prizes!

Opportunities to meet at such coffee mornings can help reduce the social isolation that carers often face due to their demanding day-to-day caring roles, as well as providing them with a very well-earned break and some time for themselves.

Your continued generosity has helped us to expand this project so that more carers can enjoy activities such as these, with carers attending also having the opportunity to borrow products from the library to enjoy with their loved ones at home.

Thank you!