Results of the 2021 call for projects focusing on carers : Crédit Agricole Assurances supports ten new projects

The Covid-19 crisis has had a significant impact on carers’ everyday lives, exacerbating the difficulties they face, increasing their social isolation, and limiting opportunities for respite. Some 14%¹ of carers took on this role for the first time during the pandemic.

In a year that continues to be blighted by the health crisis, Crédit Agricole Assurances has remained committed to carers, supporting organisations that assist them through its calls for projects. Fully in keeping with the Crédit Agricole Group's commitment to promoting inclusion, its call for projects aims to fund projects by local organisations that meet carers’ needs. Since 2010, 181 projects have been funded nationally, with the Group granting close to €2.5 million overall.

For this 11th edition, after considering over 160 applications, the selection committee* has picked ten winning projects relating to one of the following themes: fostering initiatives to address the health crisis, developing shared residences and co-housing, and carer respite². In addition to financial support, the winners will receive training on communication issues, how to develop partnerships or fundraising.

For example, the Club des 6 association will help 30 carers to cope with separation when the loved one they care for goes into residential care. Auxi’Life will roll out its long/short-term respite solution for carers of loved ones in the Eure-et-Loir region, also extending it to single parent families. Lastly, the ARSLA association will create a free app enabling users to share advice and experience to improve the quality of life of people suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and their carers.

* The members of the selection committee were: Jean Pierre Aquino, geriatrician and technical advisor to the Médéric Alzheimer Foundation, Elodie Corcuff, specialist in carer issues at the National Solidarity and Autonomy Fund (CNSA), Sophie Etchegoyen, brand and mutualism manager at the FNCA, François Galland, CSR project manager at Crédit Agricole SA, Franck Guichet, sociologist, Catherine Langlois, sponsorship manager at Crédit Agricole SA, Caroline Nicaise, Head of CSR at Crédit Agricole Assurances, and Gwenaëlle Thual, Chair of the French Association of Carers.

The associations selected and their projects

Theme: fostering initiatives to address the health crisis

Droit Pluriel – Montreuil (93)

The "Agir Handicap" project sets out to give all people with disabilities and their carers access to a free online legal advice service.

www.droitpluriel.fr

Profamille – Châtenois (67)

The purpose of this project is to meet nationwide demand for psychoeducation training for families of people suffering from schizophrenia and similar disorders, through e-learning programmes.

www.profamille.org

Fondation des Amis de l’Atelier's Pôle enfance 77– Roissy & Torcy (77)

This project seeks to provide holidays for children with autism at specialist centres designed to meet their needs, bringing respite to their families.

www.fondation-amisdelatelier.org

ARSLA (Association pour la recherche sur la sclérose latérale amyotrophique) – Paris (75)

The TutoSLA project involves developing an app available to the public enabling users to share advice and experience to improve the quality of life of people suffering from ALS and their carers.

www.arsla.org

Theme: developing shared residences and co-housing

Ensemble et Différents – Forcalquier (04)

The "l'Envol des Amalias" project sets out to support young adults with multiple disabilities as they move into inclusive housing.

www.ensemble-differents.fr

Club des 6 –Boulogne-Billancourt (92)

The "Envole-moi " initiative seeks to support 30 or so carers through their separation with the loved one they have been caring for.

www.club-des-six.fr

France Alzheimer 49 – Angers (49)

The ODISSEA project sets out to develop co-housing for six carer/caree couples living with Alzheimer's or similar disorders.

www.francealzheimer.org/maineetloire/

Solidair-aidants Monts du Lyonnais – Duerne (69)

This initiative involves the development of sheltered housing, in the form of shared homes in rural areas, for eight people suffering from neurodegenerative disorders.

Theme: carer respite

2APA – Morsbronn-Les-Bains (67)

The initiative “Baluchonnage dans le 67” involves a pilot scheme for an at-home respite service.

www.2apa.fr/

Réseau Auxi’Life – Châteaudun (28)

The project aims to develop a support service in the Eure-et-Loir region to help the elderly, people with disabilities and people returning home from hospital to manage their everyday household tasks.

www.auxilife.fr

¹ Based on the survey conducted by Embracing Carers TM. The results for France show that 14% of the carers polled in September 2020 assumed this role for the first time due to the pandemic.

² Respite is an arrangement whereby a professional care worker stands in for the usual carer for several consecutive days, providing at-home assistance for the person in need. This solution gives the carer a break, enabling them to do other things and take time out for holidays, hospital stays, or other activities.