50th Anniversary Ball

We are celebrating in style and would like to invite you to join us on Friday 11th October at the Windmill Hotel, Coventry, CV5 9AL from 7pm til late - and don't forget your dancing shoes!

To book your seats or table, please fill in the form. We will be in touch to confirm your booking. No booking is valid until it has been confirmed and verified by the Carers Trust Heart of England over email. Tickets are £50 per person or £450 for a table of 10.

How it all started

So you all know what we do, but did you that Carers Trust Heart of England's origins can be traced back to a storyline on a much-loved ATV (ITV) soap opera?

Back in the 1970s, the hit TV show Crossroads centred on the Crossroads Motel and starred Noele Gordon, recently portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter in ITV drama Nolly, as the motel owner Meg. 

In 1973, the show saw Meg’s son Sandy, played by Roger Tonge, left paralysed after a car crash. Meg’s life was turned upside down when she had to stay at home to care for him and she eventually set up a fictional “Caring for Carers” scheme which led to a stream of mail from viewers asking about it.

The storyline prompted Noel Crane, a disabled man from Rugby who was being cared for at home by his mother, to write to the programme makers. He complimented them on the realistic portrayal of the needs of disabled people and those caring unpaid for them.

ATV took him on as an adviser on disability issues and then donated £10,000 to set up a pilot project in Rugby that aimed to provide unpaid family carers with practical support.

The resulting charity, Crossroads Care, supported 26 families in Coventry and Warwickshire and its success led to the creation of many more Crossroads Care schemes. By 2012 Crossroads Care had expanded and was supporting more than 43,000 carers and their families through its network of schemes.

In 2012, Crossroads Care merged with The Princess Royal Trust for Carers – founded on the initiative of Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal in 1991 - to form Carers Trust. Carers Trust now works with a network of over 120 local carer organisations across the UK, supporting close to one million people.

We are incredibly proud to have played such an integral role in the formation of what is now a nationwide Carers Trust Network, so join us as we celebrate a historic anniversary!