Unpaid carers in the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust area now have access to a golf-based support network, set up by a Donaghadee woman who spent a decade caring for her mother.

Jude Myers-Holmes created the network after finding that golf provided her with exercise, fresh air and social connection while she was a full-time carer. She recently lost her mother, who lived with Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinsonism.

Myers-Holmes and the Trust’s Carers Support Service recently organised a golf day at Donaghadee Golf Club. Carers could play a relaxed round and enjoy lunch together, with the focus on fun and mutual support rather than competition scores.

Before becoming a carer, Myers-Holmes had lived and worked in Edinburgh. She relocated permanently to Northern Ireland when her mother’s condition required full-time care, and her husband also moved. She said caring for her mother involved helping with feeding, personal care and ensuring she remained comfortable at home.

Myers-Holmes began attending beginner golf lessons at Donaghadee Golf Club after seeing an advert. She said the sport fitted around her caring responsibilities, as she could play early mornings, late evenings or for short periods.

Through Golf Ireland’s #GolfLikeMe programme, she helped develop opportunities for other unpaid carers to connect through golf and encouraged clubs to consider how to support people with caring duties.

Sarah Devlin, a social work assistant with the Trust’s Carers Support Service, said unpaid carers provide essential daily support to vulnerable people, often around the clock, and can face significant physical and emotional demands. The service offers advice, information and signposting, and helps carers connect with specialist support and each other.

The Carers Support Service covers the South Eastern Trust area and accepts self-referrals as well as referrals from healthcare professionals and community organisations.