The track features a group of unpaid carers in Bridgend who describe their dedication to those they care for.
Groups, otherwise known as ‘Connecting Carers’, based in Brackla and Bettws have created a new song called ‘Who Cares?’ which lays bare the daily mental and physical struggles unpaid carers face.
To give context, the chorus of the song reads: ‘I feel invisible. It’s insurmountable. Am I winning in this fight? It’s a daily battle now. Who will listen if I’m struggling? Troubling thoughts run through my mind. I tell myself that I won’t break…Even on the days that I’m not okay I keep smiling anyway. Is anybody really listening? And who cares?’
While the contents of the song wouldn’t exist without unpaid carers, a number of other influential figures also helped bring it to life. Matthew Frederick, a singer/songwriter who owns the record company Staylittle Music, helped write and create the melody for the track and the social enterprise Choirs for Good, which runs community wellbeing choirs throughout Wales, conducted the singers and recorded the song.
Likewise, the song wouldn’t have come into reality without Tanio, a charity based in Wales that hosts a wide range of creative activities for individuals in need.
‘In composing and recording the song ‘Who Cares?’, we really hope that this will bring attention and shine a light on the plea of unpaid carers,’ Rob Lester, an unpaid carer who supports his 13-year-old daughter who has autism, said. ‘We play a massive role in our communities, but we face huge barriers in accessing support at the most difficult times.’
‘The process of producing and recording the song has helped us come together, share the challenge we all face in our very individual and personal circumstances and give each other the support we need but don’t always get from the authorities, which should be helping us,’ he added.
According to the latest census report, there were 310,000 unpaid carers in Wales in 2021 and the figure is expected to grow to more than half a million by 2037.
Donna Coyle, Cwmpa’s consultant for social care, said: ‘There is a plea throughout ‘Who Cares?’ for better help and support for all the amazing dedicated unpaid carers across Bridgend, and Wales.
‘Our carers work many hours a week, unpaid, caring for people of all ages – but to do this they have to fight and battle to get what’s needed for themselves and for the people they care for.’
‘If national and local authorities really listened and responded to carers requests, we wouldn’t need to have ‘fighters and warriors’,’ she continued. ‘Please, let’s change that, and start to properly support unpaid carers.’
Photo by Daniel Chekalov via UnSplash
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