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Our Story

Across the globe, carers are the force that works endlessly to support the most vulnerable in society yet the importance of the role they play and their own needs are often ignored.
You may then wonder how we came to be aware of the carers issue and why we commenced our work in South Asia?

A personal story

Our story is a personal one for our Founder and Executive Director, Anil Patil and his wife, Development Director, Ruth Patil.

Ruth and Anil worked together in India; Anil working on the issue of mental health and mental illness and Ruth working in children’s speech and language therapy. Through their work they met many unpaid carers, but becoming carers themselves to their daughter Maya who has Down Syndrome, made them look differently at these carers - parents, siblings, grandparents who had their own struggles and faced their own challenges. They saw them, understood them, and wanted to help.

Find out more about the personal story behind Carers Worldwide.

The Patil family
Funded by Andrews Charitable Trust

A consultation confirmed

After connecting with the situation of carers, a period of consultation funded by Andrews Charitable Trust took place in 2012 across India and South Africa to assess the situation of carers in those countries. Common themes emerged from this research that found caring can have a significant impact on carers in relation to their social, economic, mental and physical wellbeing and these findings were documented in the Report on Consultation on the Needs of Carers in India and South Africa.

The consultation confirmed that carers needed support and this is what drove the formation and launch of Carers Worldwide. The report identified carers needed:

  • The opportunity to meet with other carers
  • Access to health services
  • Access to employment, training, and livelihoods
  • Opportunities for respite

In addition, it was clear that there needed to be a sustained period of advocacy on behalf of, and involving, carers in order to achieve long term changes in policy and practice.

Our first project began in India, working with just 250 carers in partnership with three local NGOS: NBJK, SACRED and SAMUHA. Since then, we have worked on numerous projects in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, which to date have improved the lives of 41,669 carers, 42,127 people they care for and 166,676 family members.

We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved since our small beginnings in 2012, raising awareness and offering support to carers who were previously unnoticed and who were meeting the needs of others but not their own. We look forward to continuing our journey and achieving our vision of a world in which the needs of every carer are met.