Carer's Peer Support and Ambassador Service

One procurement, a connected history

Procurement timeline

1. 1 October 2026 at 10:40 BST

   Contract details

   UK7

   Lot 1 Carer Peer Support Service: A community-based support service that enables unpaid carers to connect with and support one another through a range of peer-led opportunities. The service aims to reduce isolation, improve wellbeing and resilience, facilitate the sharing of experience and knowledge, and help carers access emotional, practical and social support throughout their caring journey. Key Functions: • Facilitate and sustain peer support opportunities for carers. • Reduce social isolation and improve emotional wellbeing. • Promote mutual support, learning and sharing of lived experience between carers. • Support the development of carer-led groups, buddying arrangements and online communities. • Provide access to both general and condition-specific peer support. • Encourage self-sustaining, carer-led networks and community connections. • Ensure support is accessible to carers across different localities, including rural communities and carers with specialist needs. Lot 2 Carer Ambassadors: A programme of trained volunteers with lived experience of caring who acts as a link between carers, communities, service providers and commissioners. Carer Ambassadors promote carer awareness, share information and support, gather and represent carers' views, and help develop peer support opportunities across Devon. They act as advocates for carers' experiences, contribute to service improvement activities, and support engagement with local organisations and communities. Key Functions: • Provide information, signposting and informal support to carers. • Represent carers' views and feedback to service providers and commissioners. • Promote carer awareness within local communities and organisations. • Support the development and promotion of peer support groups and activities. • Participate in service evaluation, mystery shopping and quality assurance. • Maintain knowledge of local services, support pathways and carer issues. • Act as a specialist ambassador where appropriate (e.g. mental health, autism, learning disability).

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2. 17 September 2026 at 17:15 BST

   Award decision

   UK6

   Lot 1: Carer Peer Support Service The Carer Peer Support Service provides preventative, person-centred support for adult unpaid carers across Devon by facilitating opportunities for carers to connect with others who share similar lived experiences. The service aims to reduce loneliness and social isolation, improve wellbeing, resilience and confidence, and strengthen community connections through accessible peer support groups, activities and engagement opportunities. Using a strengths-based and co-produced approach, the service will support carers to access information, develop informal support networks, and maintain their own health and independence while undertaking their caring responsibilities, with a particular focus on reaching underrepresented and harder-to-engage carer communities across Devon. Lot 2: Carer Ambassador Service The purpose of the Carer Ambassador Service is to ensure that unpaid carers have a meaningful voice in the design, development, commissioning and evaluation of health and social care services across Devon. The service supports and develops a network of volunteer carers with lived experience to act as ambassadors, strengthening co-production, gathering carer insight, promoting engagement, influencing decision-making, and helping to ensure that services reflect the needs and experiences of unpaid carers. The service also aims to raise awareness of carers' needs, improve representation from diverse communities, and support continuous improvement across the wider health and social care system.

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