Get involved
If you are interested in signing up to Harry’s Pledge or would like to subscribe to receive more information about the Pledge, please fill in the form below.
Frequently Asked questions (FAQs)
What is Harry's Pledge and who's behind it?
Harry’s Pledge is a joint campaign between organisations in the Housing Sector and Hayley Charlesworth, the mother of Harry Charlesworth, who has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and many other complex needs.
Hayley already runs Harry’s Pals, to support the emotional needs of parents who have a severely ill or disabled child. Now, we want to work together to ensure that carers are also looked after, both as employees in the workplace and in the homes we build.
What does the Pledge involve? Does it cost anything to sign up?
It doesn’t cost anything to sign up to Harry’s Pledge.
The Pledge focuses on four different areas. Working with Hayley Charlesworth from Harry’s Pals, we’ve put together a few suggestions of how organisations could make progress in each of these areas.
This information might help you make a more informed decision about whether your organisation is able to sign-up to the Pledge.
Some initial ideas around what organisations can do to show their commitment to these four areas are listed below:
As employers:
• Introduce a carers policy
• Coach line managers to support carers
• Allow carers to work flexibly
• Offer peer-to-peer support
• Sign up to Carers UK’s Employers for Carers network, which enables colleagues juggling work and care to access a range of resources. For more information, visit www.employersforcarers.org/
• Launch an internal carers network within your organisation to understand how many colleagues are unpaid carers and establish a support forum for them.
In our workspaces:
• With many offices likely to be reconfigured during and following the Covid-19 pandemic, it represents a fantastic opportunity to install a ‘changing places’ toilet. About the size of a car parking space, they’re needed by one in 260 people. If your office is open to the public, this’ll have a huge impact
• Think about office space – ‘standing meeting areas’ may be fashionable, but clearly don’t help those who cannot stand!
• Improve access to all parts of the building
• Eliminate physical borders
• Be flexible with opening hours to allow for medical appointments.
In the homes we build:
• Build more homes that are fully accessible
• Consider small changes that can make a considerable difference, such as routinely mainstream ‘invisible by design’ features for all new properties
• Consider maintenance programmes and how ‘invisible by design’ instalments can routinely be mainstreamed for all.
In training and career progression:
• Actively promote care as a career choice
• Work together with your colleagues to make a difference.
Does my organisation have to commit to all four areas of the Pledge?
It might be that only one or two of the Pledge commitments are realistic for your organisation, but that’s fine.
Progress in just one of these areas could make a huge difference to people that need care and those who provide it.
