Last December a gaggle of Support Group Leaders as well as Tim Poole, Chief Executive of Carers Gloucestershire, Nick Baker, Communications Manager and I, got together in The Snug at The New Inn for Group Leaders Day.

Although the venue was rather dark, the talks at least could be heard by everyone, even if the speaker could not be seen!

After introducing the aims of the day, I handed over to Tim, who spoke about staff changes and the way forward for Carers Gloucestershire and how this would have a positive impact on all Carers.

Nick then explained his new role with Carers Gloucestershire, saying that one aim was to bring some ‘joined up thinking' to areas around Carers representation, campaigning, profile raising and training.

Finally it was my turn. I introduced the idea of Regional Events for Support Groups and explained that this was an idea that would need input and backing from groups. Everyone participated in a workshop brainstorming ideas for venue, speaker and event promotion, and gauging levels of interest in such events.

The response was positive; I have now forwarded a copy of the workshop results to all Group Leaders and am awaiting their replies and input. Watch this space for further updates. I hope these events will be supported by all of you!