City & Guilds is the leading provider of vocational qualifications in the UK. Our qualifications assess knowledge, understanding and skills that are of real value in work, life and leisure. They are recognised worldwide for their quality.

Building on the work of a number of carer's organisations, City & Guilds has developed Learning for Living specifically for unpaid carers. Learning for Living also plays an important part in a European Community project, 'Action for Carers & Employment', which is helping to raise awareness of the barriers facing carers who wish to work and promotes ways of supporting them.

The materials were written by:

Jan Alcoe - freelance editor, writer and trainer in care, specialising in the design of training and learning materials. She is co-founder and former director of Pavilion, a leading UK publisher in health and social care.

Jo Hathaway - works mainly on social care publications and co-author of 'Caring for Children and Young People' (Pavilion, 2004). She has undertaken work for the Mental After Care Association and has been a carer for people with mental health problems.

Irene Lofthouse - development trainer, author and NVQ assessor/verifier with considerable experience across the care sector. Recent work has involved the development of e-learning and tracking systems. She is a former carer and care home worker.

David Tossell - tutor in social work at Ruskin College and the Open University. He has a background in local authority social work and teaching in care in further education. He has co-authored books about caring, including 'Social Issues for Carers' (Hodder Arnold, 1998).

Sue West - background in social work and lecturing in health and social care at a further education college. On a personal level, she has first hand experience of supporting carers.

Developed by Aurion (www.aurion.co.uk), a Belfast based educational multimedia design company, specialising in the design of bespoke programmes for delivery through the web and CD/DVD. Its team of instructional designers, graphic designers and programmers produce highly interactive learning materials and support tools for its public and private sector clients in the UK and Ireland.

Images by kind permission of John Birdsall Social Issues Photo Library - www.johnbirdsall.co.uk.

The questionnaire in the 'What Next' topic comes from 'Build Your Own Rainbow' by Barrie Hopson & Mike Scally and appears by kind permission of the publisher, Management Books 2000.