Birmingham Carers Hub and Birmingham Young Carers Service: A Year in Review 2025
Every day, around 100,000 unpaid Carers across Birmingham provide essential support to family members, friends and neighbours.
Their care enables people to live independently, strengthens families and communities, and reduces pressure on health and social care services.
Whether caring for someone with a disability, long-term health condition, mental ill health, dementia or age-related needs, Carers make an invaluable contribution to life across the city.
Birmingham Carers Hub and Birmingham Young Carers Service work together to ensure Adult Carers, Young Adult Carers and Young Carers can access information, advice, practical support and opportunities to improve their wellbeing at every stage of their caring journey.
Birmingham Carers Hub is commissioned by Birmingham City Council and NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (BSOL ICB) and delivered by Forward Carers in partnership with 20 local organisations.
Birmingham Young Carers Service is commissioned by Birmingham Children’s Trust and delivered by Forward Carers in partnership with Action for Children.
Our Impact Review 2025 highlights the support provided during the past year and the difference it has made for Carers across Birmingham.
Why do we produce an Impact Review?
At Forward Carers, we believe that measuring impact is about much more than counting activities or reporting statistics.
Our Impact Review helps us understand whether support is making a difference in Carers’ lives, what we are learning and where we can improve. It also helps us remain accountable to commissioners, funders, partners and the Carers who help shape our services through their feedback and experiences.
Supporting Adult Carers Across Birmingham
Birmingham Carers Hub provides city-wide access to support through a network of 20 local Delivery Partners, ensuring Carers can access services within their local communities while benefiting from a coordinated approach across the city.
During 2025, the Hub:
- Supported 6,128 Carers and identified 2,224 Hidden Carers
- Completed 1,998 statutory Carer Assessments
- Provided specialist support to 615 Dementia Carers
- Delivered 2,330 one-to-one and intensive support sessions
- Recorded 14,702 attendances across groups and training sessions
- Distributed wellbeing budgets totalling £519,300 to 1,731 Carers
The review also highlights the difference this support makes.
97% of Carers rated support as good or very good, 73% reported improvements in their mental health and wellbeing, and 79% felt more knowledgeable and confident in their caring role.
Supporting Young Carers
The Birmingham Young Carers Service supports children and young people aged 5–17 who help care for someone at home.
During 2025:
- 1,049 Young Carers were connected to support
- 443 Hidden Young Carers were identified
- 100% of Young Carers completed a self-assessment to understand their needs
- 803 Young Carers attended groups, activities and events
Assessments help ensure Young Carers receive support tailored to their individual circumstances and needs.
The service also provides opportunities for young people to take a break from caring responsibilities, build friendships and spend time with others who understand their experiences. Throughout the year, Young Carers participated in activities including youth clubs, workshops, themed events, day trips and residential experiences.
One Young Carer shared:
“I’d just like to say I had a wonderful day today… I made new friends. Also, I’d like to thank staff members who were so caring and friendly. Thank you for a lovely day. It was nice to have a break from caring.”
For many young people, these activities provide valuable time away from caring responsibilities and opportunities to develop confidence, friendships and a stronger sense of belonging.
Creating Social Value and Additional Value
Supporting Carers is about more than delivering commissioned services. Forward Carers actively secures additional funding, grants and in-kind support to extend the help available to Birmingham Carers and strengthen local communities.
In 2025, our National Lottery-funded Carer Friendly Brum programme delivered 122 community pop-up sessions, raising awareness of unpaid caring, identifying more hidden Carers and connecting people with support in the heart of their communities.
We also secured £478,000 from NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (BSOL ICB) to deliver BEAM (Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health). Working alongside local partners, BEAM provides personalised mental health and emotional wellbeing support through counselling, therapeutic activities and wellbeing programmes, helping Carers build resilience, improve their wellbeing and continue in their caring role.
Alongside this, 981 Carers received £392,400 through the Household Support Fund, while 102 Carers experiencing financial hardship or digital exclusion received free data SIM cards, helping them stay connected to essential services, family and support networks.
These additional investments and partnerships help remove barriers, improve wellbeing and ensure more Carers can access the support they need when they need it.
Part of a Wider Network
While this article focuses on Birmingham, these services form part of Forward Carers’ wider network of support across the West Midlands and South-West.
Our Impact Review 2025 also highlights services delivered across Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall, Dorset and Wiltshire, alongside our wider work to create Carer Friendly Communities through digital innovation, partnership working and social value initiatives.
The review provides an opportunity to explore both the local impact of services delivered in Birmingham and the wider contribution that Carer support makes across communities.
Thank You
Thank you to the Carers, staff, volunteers, partners, commissioners and funders who have contributed to supporting unpaid Carers across Birmingham during the past year.
Your commitment, expertise and collaboration continue to help ensure Carers can access the information, advice and support they need.
Read the Impact Review
We invite you to explore the full Impact Review and learn more about the difference being made for Adult and Young Carers across Birmingham and across the wider Forward Carers network.
