By Julie Doyle, Chief Executive of Longhurst Group

The coronavirus pandemic has shone a light on those who provide care – from frontline workers in the NHS and our care homes to those unpaid carers, who, behind closed doors, work tirelessly each day to look after their loved ones. But while their vital importance has come under the spotlight, so too has the need for us for us to do more to support them.

That’s why I’ve been absolutely delighted to see social housing organisations from across the country joining together, supported by Carers UK, Inside Housing and our founding partner Harry’s Pals, to make a renewed commitment to carers, called Harry’s Pledge.

Harry is my grandson. He’s five years old and lives near to me in Northamptonshire. His mum, my daughter Hayley, runs Harry’s Pals, a trust that supports parents caring for children with disabilities. Five days after Harry was born, following various tests, doctors told us that he had significant brain damage. It’s the most traumatic situation I have ever experienced in my life.

There was quite a lot of physical help for Harry, but no support for Harry’s parents to cope with what they were going through. You’ve got to process devastating news, the fear for the future and, understandably, your mental health is severely affected too. It was an absolutely heart-breaking time.

Through Harry’s Pledge we hope to do even more to support carers by making a positive difference and campaigning for change. Harry’s Pledge asks the housing sector to support those who need care and those who provide it in four ways:

• Being supportive employers to people that have caring responsibilities
• Making offices and community spaces as accessible as possible
• Building more fully-accessible homes
• Further professionalising and promoting care as a career, and lobbying for changes in pay and rewards for carers.

Recent research says one in five people will, at some point in their lives, be a carer and many organisations will have carers working for them whose lives would be easier if different practices were adopted. We believe that there is so much the housing sector can do to look at the design of our properties and ensure they’re accessible for disabled people and support carers.

Care isn’t just about care homes, so many people who live in general needs properties have care needs. We know people are living longer and with more complex health conditions and so we need to think about the support we provide in a much more holistic way.

In my mind, this isn’t rocket science – we just need to see things through a different lens and change the way we think. We’ll never have a better opportunity to make this commitment to carers and make a positive difference to so many people across the country.

Following the campaign’s official launch in June, more than 40 organisations have now signed up to the Pledge with many more expressing support or wanting to find out more.

If you’d like to support the campaign by signing up or would like to find out more, please visitharrys-pledge.org.uk or follow @HarrysPledge.