London School of Economics and Political Science, Finalist 2012, Best for Carers and Eldercare Award

The LSE is a leading university employing nearly 3,000 people. The LSE is committed to being a strong family-friendly employer. In recognition that a large proportion of the workforce in the UK are carers of adults LSE decided to offer support to their employees who have such responsibilities. As a model for the carers of adults programme, LSE took inspiration from the successful initiative of the ‘balancing work and being a dad’ and mentoring support. A workshop for carers was held during National Carers’ Week and led to the development of a Carers’ Network. Expert assistance from Working Families and material from Macmillan Cancer Support has been used to develop specialist toolkits to support carers. The workshop proved so successful it is now offered on a regular basis.

The aim of the LSE is to create a culture where employees feel comfortable about talking about their caring responsibilities and exploring short-term or long-term options to enable them to combine work and care.