MARIE McWaters is looking forward to having her Carer’s Allowance topped up by the equivalent of £8.50 a week, and backdated to April 2018.
She’s already decided that it will go towards her monthly pass for the local leisure centre where she can use the gym.
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It’s 20 years since she started caring for her husband Colin, who has epilepsy and suffers from multiple seizures when he falls asleep.
McWaters, who is a member of Care Scotland’s advisory group and met former Cabinet Secretary for Social Security Jeane Freeman when she was consulting on Scotland’s new welfare agency, said: “I don’t think people realise how demanding it is to be a carer,” she says. “People think we just aren’t working but not only are we working, we’re working harder than anyone else.”
“It’s really heartening to get this recognition,” she said of the payment. “It’s a really positive first step.” Now she would like to see the top-up made available to those of pensionable age too. “Because let’s face it the caring doesn’t just stop,” she adds.
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