A Conversation with Annderloris Chacon, CEO of Bristol Black Carers

I had the pleasure of meeting with CEO of Bristol Black Carers, Anndeloris Chacon, registered nurse,support worker, and author of a book of Poems called ‘Listen’.

Anndeloris has had a long career as a nurse which very much equipped her for her role with Bristol Black Carers. She began nursing 44 years ago, training in Canada before returning to her home country of Trinidad and working in Cardiac and Intensive Care. She then migrated to the UK, and continued working in Cardiac before moving into Sickle Cell for 11 years. Anndeloris joined Bristol Black Carers in 2005 as a trustee, resigned from that role in 2012 to take on the post of manager and then graduated to CEO.

 Anndeloris has won numerous awards during her time working with the Charity, the most recent one being a BEM (British Empire Medal) for her services to charity and to the community in Bristol.

During our conversation I realised Anndeloris has a uniquely person centred, holistic approach to her role, the charity and the people they work with.

“Listening is at the core of Bristol Black Carers – if we don’t listen we won’t hear and we won’t know and therefore cannot be affective.”

Their approach extends to the whole family, not just carer.  

 “We find that if carer has an issue with the person they care for, another family member or something else,  if it’s not solved, the carer can end up stressed  and not able to function properly. We look at the full infrastructure that surrounds them. We are then able to offer support that covers a wide spectrum of ill health, good health, psychological and physical symptoms.

We always work towards finding positive outcomes as soon as possible – it does not always work out but we give them the opportunity to talk which gives relief and peace of mind – the whole body feels it. I believe that the mind, body and soul have to be in harmony to have good health.”

This ethos very much filters down to all the staff and volunteers, they are able to help carers  by active listening, providing information and advice and can advocate on their behalf. Bristol Black Carers help with areas such as housing, benefits, tribunals, employment, and education.

 Loneliness has become a particular concern;

 “Since Covid, we realised loneliness and isolation is something that is existent, persistent and constant in people’s lives. Even if you have family members in house – it can be lonely. Many connections were lost at that time.”

I asked Anndeloris about her role:

 “When I stepped into the post I knew nothing about charity and how it functions . I’m very good with budgeting so brought that skill in and had a lot of experience with my nursing, I realised it did not end, it continued in a different way.

 I saw that people were not getting sufficient information to manage their conditions, and Carers don’t get a lot of information. We visit people in their homes to support individuals, and talk about diet, exercise, food, and how they can change things. We find out what’s available so they can request to have it in their homes.“

Anndeloris also works closely with Bristol After Stroke and the Integrated Care Team in Bristol City Council. One thing they do is to help carers fill out their assessment forms so they can receive their grants or respite payment. She is passionate about making sure carers receive their £300 a year towards respite. This is for the carer to get a break, treat themselves, or use it for things like gym membership.

 “I always try to make sure they get the £300 minimum – there is nothing there for carers! It’s peanuts – divide that by 12. I aim is to get them as much as possible.

 I feel a sadness when  I see other organisations encouraging the carers to spend that money with family. I say no – that person needs that time to themselves – respite is being comfortable away from the situation – so the person has that peace.

Carers who work have two jobs, work and home. The carers role is another role in their life. They are also a husband or wife and sister etc.  Life gets swallowed up by carer responsibilities and  you don’t have space to be the role of wife, or husband – you cannot go out for dinner.”

Bristol Black Carers have over 300 carers on their books but Annderlois does not count like that.

 “It’s the interactions that count. In one month we can have 6 interactions with one person – it all depends on what they’re dealing with. We might visit them at home, talk to their social worker and housing officer and advocate for them. It’s not about counting people, it’s about the interactions. This is their life – it’s not a complex case, as some may call them – its what’s in their life. We start with a conversation– we don’t know the action without the conversation.”

 Anndeloris is well known in Bristol and has built a major network, she’s sat on the Inner City and East Bristol Locality Board, has been a part of the mental health transformation group, and the stroke education panel looking at what information they put out there on strokes.

“I talk about stroke and advise on diet, especially when it comes to African, Caribbean, Asian and Chinese diets – I ask ‘have you looked into the different diets? People won’t change overnight. You  need to look at what us African, Caribbean, Asian, Chinese normally eat and how to modify that diet in order to manage health – not tell us to eat an English diet. I find some people who go into hospital, don’t see a sandwich as a meal so they starve and come out malnourished. We need to change this.”

Anndeloris is also passionate about funding and ensuring when applying for grants, it covers the whole service.

 “We were losing funding in that year. I retired form nursing and stepped into the post and happy to say we are still here. We need a million coming in every year to make sure we deliver and have our services – so everything will be covered.

I basically did not ask for anything in my first 4 years, we used what was given and provided services, we could then show the funders ‘this is what I have done with what I have. If I had more, I could do more. ‘ I needed to know what I needed more money for before I asked for it. Now I understand what’s required for us to be sustainable.

Project money alone is not sustainable as it does not take into consideration staffing, it is just for services being delivered. If we don’t have costings for salaries in any project, it’s not worth having, we need support workers, supervision, training, and overhead costs before we can deliver a service.  When I go to funders I say – if you want this done properly these are what you need to consider in your budgets.”

Due to the work Anndeloris has carried out in the community both her and the charity has been recognised through the following awards.

• 2023 – British Empire Medal

• 2021 – GHP Social Care Award – Best Specialist Carers Supporting Organisation South West

• 2018 – MTM Award – Community Champion

• 2018 – Bristol Black and Minority Ethnic Top 100 Leaders

• 2017 – Voscur Award – Partnership Working

• 2017 – Stardust Award – Author

• 2017 – Up Our Street Award – Thank You

• 2017 – RISE Award – Bristol - Outstanding Contributions to the Community      

Geographically Bristol Black Carers are based and support carers in Bristol but they answer calls from all over.

They offer wellbeing support, advice and information and resources as well as events and a ssupportive community.

Andeloris final words from our meeting lit me up!

 “I am a positive disrupter – I don’t accept the status quo – there is always another way.

There is a saying –  ‘you made your bed so you must lie in it’. I say,  no – I can strip it down and lie on it like that. I like to be real.”

You can find out all about Bristol Black Carers here.