• The stories of two unpaid carers from Cornwall supported by Westbank Community Health and Care’s Devon Carers service. 
• Contrary to public perception, unpaid carers can often live some distance from the people they care for. 

Devon’s foremost health and wellbeing charity, Westbank Community Health and Care, has revealed that its Devon Carers service, which currently supports around 35,500 unpaid carers across Devon, also supports 142 unpaid carers from Cornwall who care for someone in Devon and ten carers who live in Devon and care for a family member or friend in Cornwall.

Data for the 2025-2026 financial year shows that 152 people whose caring responsibilities straddle the two counties are currently registered with Devon Carers at Westbank. It’s evidence that, contrary to public perception, unpaid carers often live some distance from those they care for.

Devon Carers at Westbank is a service that’s commissioned jointly by Devon County Council and the NHS. Westbank has been delivering the current contract since 2018, successfully supporting tens of thousands of unpaid carers whilst delivering measurable savings to the health and social care system by preventing many carers and care recipients from needing funded care.

Of the 142 unpaid carers living in Cornwall and caring for someone in Devon who are registered with the service, 89 receive the Devon Carers’ magazine, eight are engaged with Peer Support, and six have had a carer’s assessment in the last year.

Andy Hood, Head of Carers Services at Westbank, says, “Devon Carers at Westbank is a service that quietly delivers exceptional scale, quality and value for money for the local authority and the NHS. Now we have evidence that the service is also supporting unpaid carers and their families well beyond the commissioned area.”

He adds, “In the face of a real-term funding squeeze, Devon Carers continues to extend its reach and drive down its Cost per Carer. For years, we have been delivering measurable savings for Devon’s health and social care system; however, now we know that we are also contributing to supporting the public purse in Cornwall.”

Martin’s story

Martin, who’s in his seventies, is the principal carer for his elderly mother, who’s nearly 100 and lives in Devon’s South Hams district. He himself lives over a hundred miles away in south-west Cornwall. Now retired from teaching and with no siblings able to share caring responsibilities for his parent, Martin estimates he spends between 80 and 90% of his time with his mum, staying in her spare room, returning home to Cornwall for roughly three days every three weeks. He attends a regular Peer Support Group, provided by Devon Carers at Westbank, which helps him to cope with his situation and ‘let off steam’.

Martin says, “My mum wouldn’t be able to cope, not remotely, without me. She would be straight into a residential home. She’s frail with reduced mobility, poor eyesight and hearing. She had a fall in the summer of 2025. While she has ‘officially recovered’ following a 3-week stint in the local hospitals, her frailty becomes more apparent month by month. She has a Zimmer frame at home, and I have to encourage her to hang on to it and not get distracted. It’s not nursing as such, but I pretty much do everything to look after her. My siblings aren’t local enough to help with her care.

“When I return home for a few days, I put in place a wrap-around package of visits from an informal local network of carers we know and trust, and they also take responsibility for Mum’s personal and intimate care. I coordinate absolutely everything day-to-day and for the days when I’m able to get home for a brief break.

“I’m under ongoing pressure and sometimes feel somewhat fragile. I attend a Devon Carers’ Peer Support Group once a month. Compared to some of the other people in my group, who have become friends, I think I have it light. Sometimes you hear their situation and think, “Oh my goodness, how long can they hang on for?” I feel I’m always under pressure, but sometimes it’s more extreme than other times and, in all honesty, it’s not as extreme as what some of my friends have to cope with.

“Psychologically, it wouldn’t be good for either of us if I were to live with my mum full-time or she with me; my mum has lived in her home town her whole life. I like to walk and get out on the water when I can to give myself a bit of respite. I need the occasional break when I can go out on my boat and hold on to some semblance of an independent life. My current situation makes it much more challenging to manage my own ‘life admin’. If one thing goes wrong, it has a domino effect.

“I find the Peer Support Group run by Devon Carers very, very helpful and supportive. I’ve been looking after my mum pretty much full-time for a year now, and I started attending the group shortly after that. It was recommended to me following my mother’s fall. It’s great for me that I can access a group here in Devon, because I’m never in Cornwall long enough to attend anything there!

“I find the Devon Carers’ group incredibly useful because it’s somewhere that I can sound off and say exactly what I think. I can be blunt and honest, knowing it’s a confidential, protected space. The coordinators are incredibly sensitive, and I have made friends there.  We all use the group as a sounding board, and it honestly helps keep us sane!”

Julie’s story

Julie is in her early sixties, married with children and works part time as a supply teaching assistant in Cornwall and Devon. She lives near Launceston, where her father is in a nursing home for people with advanced dementia, and she regularly travels to Okehampton, in Devon, to support her mother, who also has dementia but still lives independently. Julie has a supportive husband. Her only sibling does not live close by, and Julie carries the weight of responsibility for both her parents. She takes part in monthly online Peer Support meetings run by Devon Carers, as well as using some other parts of the service.

“My parents are both in their eighties. My father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's ten years ago. He’s been in a nursing home with full NHS funding for about five years. He was sectioned because he was wandering, so that was difficult to deal with. At that time, Mum was his main carer and was registered with Devon Carers. She still is; however, Mum was subsequently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s herself. Luckily, Dad’s nursing home is only two miles from me, as Mum lives in Okehampton. She’s at a different stage of her Alzheimer’s journey and still lives in her home but needs a lot of support. We use a local company to help out with cleaning and other jobs and have a gardener.

“My husband and I are also supporting his parents, who lived abroad for almost two decades, but are now back in the UK, and have moved close to us. They don’t need too much support at present, but we believe it is only a matter of time, as they are of a similar age to my parents.

“Mum likes to see Dad three times a week. Her paid support helps out with some of those journeys now, which has relieved me of some of the to-ing and fro-ing between Cornwall and Devon. When Dad’s dementia started to take hold, my parents were struggling with the dynamics. My brother and I had concerns, and the social workers and the Older Person’s Mental Health Team got involved. Devon Carers was suggested to me, and my mum and I did Dementia Awareness Training together through Devon Carers. Even that required me driving over to see her at home because it was online, and she can’t operate a computer. The Devon Carers’ Helpline made me aware that I was an unpaid carer, not just a daughter helping out her elderly parents, and that’s when I registered with the service myself.

“My relationship with my mum isn’t the easiest. Her demands for help have gradually crept up over time. I’ve sought advice from the Devon Carers’ Helpline when I’ve felt that I’m at breaking point with it all.

“I recently had an assessment with Devon Carers. I’ve done a couple of training courses, and I attend one of the monthly online groups for dealing with a parent with dementia. Bizarrely, it’s nice to know that other people are dealing with similar situations. Sometimes it’s easier to see solutions to their problems than to your own! Some sessions are more helpful than others, but they allow me to offload some of my frustrations.

“I do get very frustrated that my brother doesn’t feel able to share more of the load, yet an extra task is to keep him informed. Many carers find it easier to ‘just get on with it’ and firefight because it’s hard to make the headspace to take a long-term view. I do feel trapped and, for my mental health, I choose to continue to work. It can complicate things, but I need to hold on to something of my life because you sometimes feel you are losing yourself. I received a grant from Devon Carers to go out and do something for myself - I bought some theatre tickets. My husband and I went to the theatre. 

“I’m lucky to have a few long-term friends who know my circumstances and whom I can turn to when I need their support. For me, having the Devon Carers’ Helpline and being able to phone up and speak to somebody when I need to is really helpful too.”

Throughout 2026, Westbank Community Health and Care is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Earlier this year, it launched a new service specifically for parents and carers of children with special educational needs, disabilities, long-term illnesses, or additional needs. Devon Parent Carers at Westbank is a service funded by Westbank through fundraising activities, legacies and grants. 

For more information about Devon Carers at Westbank and Devon Parent Carers at Westbank, visit: www.westbank.org.uk