Carers Trust is working with a highly regarded creative agency on a really exciting campaign that will bring carers everywhere into the heart of Westminster for a protest – all without them having to leave their front door.
Carers Trust is calling on unpaid carers across the country to join a ground-breaking “protest from home” on 22 July 2025, bringing their voices directly to the heart of Westminster without leaving their front door. This campaign aims to shine a spotlight on the relentless pressures faced by carers and to demand that respite breaks become a legal right, properly funded and readily available.
Every day, unpaid carers juggle essential tasks—caring for loved ones, managing medication schedules, attending medical appointments—and yet many find themselves unable even to take a hair-cut appointment or to visit the dentist. Years of underinvestment in social care have left services stretched to breaking point, pushing carers to their limits. The protest from home will highlight this reality by projecting photographs and recorded messages from carers onto large screens in Parliament Square on the eve of Parliament’s summer recess.
How to participate
To take part, carers need only follow three simple steps:
- Create a placard at home
- Use any materials to hand—pen and paper, cardboard or even the inside of a cereal box
- Write, in ten words or fewer, the one thing you would most like to do if you were given a proper break — for example, “See my grandchildren” or “Read a novel uninterrupted”
- Photograph your placard
- Take a landscape-oriented photograph of yourself holding the placard in your home. If you prefer not to appear in the image, simply photograph the placard on its own, propped up in your surroundings
- Submit your photograph
- Upload your image via the campaign form by 9 July. The link can be found at https://forms.gle/aoe7DLvhpxJwfHJk7
Hundreds of images are needed to demonstrate the scale of the crisis and to make it impossible for the United Kingdom Government to ignore the demands of carers nationwide. Journalists will broadcast live from Parliament Square on 22 July, drawing attention to the fact that, while Members of Parliament head off on their summer holiday, millions of carers remain unable to pause their caring duties.
In addition to the photo protest, Carers Trust is seeking a small number of carers who are willing to be filmed at home. Selected participants will share their personal stories—where they live, the nature of their caring responsibilities and the difference a break would make. Filming will take place between 23 and 27 June; interested carers should submit a short video via the same form by 13 June.
Dominic, from Carers Trust, explains:
This is our chance to create real public urgency around the need for respite breaks enshrined in law. By projecting carers’ images onto screens in Parliament Square, we will give the Government an unavoidable reminder of the human faces behind our campaign and demand the recognition and support carers deserve.
Richmond Carers Centre encourages all unpaid carers in our community to get involved. Group meet-ups provide a wonderful opportunity to create placards together and to discuss how having even a few hours off could transform life at home. If you have any questions about submitting photographs or videos, please contact the Carers Trust team via carersvideos@uncommon.studio for assistance.
Let us unite, from living rooms to the lawns of Parliament Square, to demand that carers everywhere are finally given a break. Take a photograph, send your message and join the protest from home — because every carer deserves time for themselves.
Event flyer
