Jill Pitkeathley

““When I started, the word ‘carer’ wasn’t even in the Oxford English Dictionary … Now it’s everywhere. But cultural change in workplaces still lags behind.””

““My Lords, I have spent a great deal of my life working either in social care … as a campaigner for carers who actually provide most social care … I am a fan of social care and those who provide it …””

““I use the word ‘persecuted’ quite deliberately. Carers are being penalised for something they often didn’t even realise they had done.””

““It’s not a grand achievement for forty years of effort … But you have to start somewhere.””

““It was an easy gig. I think we were mistaken, perhaps, if we thought it would translate into the rather more difficult type of volunteering that we expected people to do.””