Portsmouth Carers Service

Your Break, Your Way

Portsmouth Carers Service is leading a one-year research and development project: ‘Your Break, Your Way’. With this project we  aim to:

  • Understand current needs and gaps in provision.
  • Identify best practices.
  • Develop and pilot new, tailored solutions.

Infographic about Your Break Your Way.

Thank you!

Thank you for sharing your ideas and helping us shape carers’ services that truly reflect your needs. Here’s how your feedback is making a real difference:

Our Journey So Far

  • Stage One: You shared your views on what matters most to you when taking a break.
  • Stage Two: Guided by your views, we explored new ways to enhance our offer and make the best use of our resources.
  • Stage Three: We are now developing and trialling new approaches—working closely with carers and community organisations every step of the way.

What You Told Us – What We Did

  • You wanted more variety in Carers Breaks:
    We have teamed up with Portsmouth City College, BH Live, and the British Red Cross to offer a wider range of activities and information sessions.
  • You asked for better communication:
    We are supporting a carer-led Facebook group for parent carers (special thanks to Helen!) and have held our first co-production meeting to improve our website and online communications.
  • You would like a simpler booking process for our carers breaks programme: We are collaborating with our Digital Customer Experience team and will invite carers to help shape this next year.
  • You need more flexibility in respite services:
    We are improving agreements with care agencies and working with services like The Royal Albert Day Centre and Shared Lives to develop new alternatives to our break services.
  • Carers are trialling new community-based break options:
    Carers are trialling and providing feedback on initiatives like the Porchester Dementia Hub.
  • Carers need better value for money when taking a break:
    Carers are now trialling Click Learning with Flourish Rewards and Carefree hotel breaks to get the best value breaks for carers.

Thank you for your ideas and support—together, we are making a real difference!

What’s Next?

From January to March next year, we will review your feedback and experiences from the trials to choose the best ways to enhance our Carers Breaks offer—so you can enjoy “Your Break, Your Way”.