I'm led to believe that John Ruskin (Victorian art critic, social thinker, poet and artist) once said, "Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather." Well, next time you see him, be sure to tell him from me that I consider the man to be off his head. No such thing as bad weather? The past few weeks have shown us, I'm sure you would agree, a range of spectacularly awful weather.

So how did you cope? Brave the elements with a hearty, (frozen) stiff upper lip bulldog spirit? Enjoy the beauty and excitement until cabin fever set in?

With the snow and ice gone, many us will return to a pattern of work/family life/routine of some sort, punctuated by evenings out, spending time with friends at the weekend or perhaps playing some sport, planning the annual holiday and so on.

In the words of the old Mars Bar jingle (other brands of calorie laden tooth endangering sugar rush child bribes are available), it's the good old mix of ‘Work, rest and play'.

For Carers, short breaks are crucial but often difficult - if not impossible. I was talking recently to Freda who cared for her husband on her own for many years and is a good friend of Carers Gloucestershire who lives out Tewkesbury way. "Carers find themselves providing care at unpredictable intervals or around the clock. Their work doesn't finish at 5.30pm. They don't get free weekends or paid holidays and they often can't retire in their 60s. For me, arranging something as mundane as a hair appointment was a major undertaking, never mind an evening out with friends!

Carers, like everyone else, need opportunities to rest and relax and to enjoy themselves, perhaps more so. I believe that respite from the caring role is crucial if Carers are to continue successfully to look after their relative or friend and not develop major health problems because of the constant stress and strain of caring."

No More Working...

We know from national research that we Carers run twice the risk of developing a major illness than someone without caring responsibilities. Take, for example, the case of Peggy.

Peggy has been married to Michael for 60 years. Seven years ago he was diagnosed with vascular dementia. Peggy cared for her husband 24 hours a day. One day in the kitchen, in Peggy's words, "the walls suddenly closed in" and she collapsed, not from a heart attack, not from a stroke, but just total exhaustion. Michael was subsequently taken temporarily into care, the appropriate agencies were called in and an assessment of need was put in place.

Today, she says, regular respite care is available and the quality of life for her and her husband Michael is much better. Peggy's hope is that adequate respite care is provided for everyone before a crisis, such as the one that befell her, is reached.

With Peggy and thousands like her across Gloucestershire in mind, the government's investment of £150 million to deliver respite care for Carers, as part of its National Carers Strategy, is welcome. Let's hope that this goes some way to helping Carers get what they need and clearly, as Peggy and other Carers' stories show, what Carers need is a break, regularly.

I'll leave you as I came in, with a quote, this time from author and cartoonist Ashleigh Brilliant, and one that I unreservedly endorse.

"Sometimes the most urgent thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest", he says. Who am I to argue?