There is one job in the UK, which over 1.3 million people undertake each day – many of whom didn’t even apply for the role. Instead, they often must give up work, and accept duties as a carer looking after a parent, child or beloved relative. Carers receive little to no training or help to assist them with the caring duties they perform each day and often through the night.
For one Carterton resident, Carol Russell, she not only had to deal with caring for her father who was diagnosed with dementia, but she had to cope with her own medical condition of severe epilepsy.
“In 1987, I was working as a qualified nurse in a hospital in Southend on Sea in Essex,” Carol explains. “I was travelling back to Essex on the train following a visit to my parents in Carterton when I first suffered a black out – I have complex partial seizures and can become totally unaware of what is happening or where I am; I also suffer from memory loss. I was later told by the consultant who was looking after me that the condition could have been brought on by the atmospheric pressure exerted by the excessive storms we had recently experienced. As my condition was degenerative, I could not continue working as a nurse, in a profession for which I had trained and loved doing. Over the years I suffer periods when my condition becomes uncontrollable, and I have not been able to drive since my diagnosis.
I continued to live in Southend until 2017, when I received a phone call from Thames Valley Police informing me that my father – who had worked for the RAF stationed at Brize Norton – had been involved in a motor accident. The doctors then advised that he was showing signs of dementia. Whilst his neighbours did what they could to help care for him, it was quickly apparent that I would need to move back to Carterton, where I had grown up, to take care of my father. Although I was a qualified nurse, nothing had prepared me for what I was going to face. Unfortunately, we had never enjoyed the happiest of father-daughter relationships and when my mother died in 2006, this became more difficult. However, I put my own personal feelings to one side and did what I could to care for my Dad.
One of the things which I had started to do back in 1992 was to bake cakes, often to raise funds for charities. Not being able to work, my cake making gave me something to do. Whilst I was looking after Dad, I once again started baking; it was a wonderful therapy and helped me cope each day. Two years ago, I obtained my Food Hygiene Certificate and got a 5-star Hygiene Rating from the local town council. This enabled me to start baking and selling my cakes on a small scale locally.
My father passed away in August 2021 and having devoted so many hours each day to his constant care, I am now trying to come to terms with the emptiness that no longer having caring responsibilities brings with it. However, I am delighted to say that I have my small cake baking business to focus on. Bridging the borders and dialects of Essex and Oxfordshire, I have called my business ‘Lush Innit.’ I focus mostly on delicious creations based on Victoria Sponge Cakes with various fillings. I also make cup-cakes and have recently started supplying a café in Brize Norton. It is my dream that someone well known will order one of my cakes. Dream big as they say! I am lucky, as with my own health condition to manage daily, my cakes have helped ease the emptiness which so many carers face when they lose the person they are caring for and have to find a way of making a new life for themselves.”
Carol makes cakes to order but does not do wedding or true novelty cakes. In July 2021, Carterton Celebrates recognised Carol’s work as a cake maker and her donations to local charity.
To find out more about ‘Lush Innit’ please visit facebook.com/Lush-Innit-Home-Baked-Cakes-Made-To-Order
