Carers in Bedfordshire has built Carus for Carers, a digital platform shaped by local Carers. Carers don’t sign up to it themselves, but it could change how Carers organisations across England support the people who rely on them.
Caring for someone rarely fits into office hours. Many unpaid Carers look for help late at night, between appointments, or while sitting in a hospital waiting room. At the same time, the organisations that support them are often working across several separate systems to deliver one service, while the number of Carers keeps growing.
Carers in Bedfordshire has spent more than 20 years supporting local carers, starting out in a conservatory with a handful of volunteers. Over that time the charity learned a great deal about what carers need and when they need it. In April 2026 it set up Carus for Carers Limited, a company owned by the charity, to share that learning with carers organisations elsewhere.
Shaped by Carers
Carus was developed with a Carers panel, and support workers tested it as it was built. The panel’s insight shaped what carers see when they log in.
Carers can build an action plan around the parts of life that matter most to them, such as their health, money, work or time for themselves, and update it as things change. They can make a contingency plan and share it with family, friends or a support worker, so others know what to do in an emergency. It works on any phone, tablet or computer without downloading an app, and an accessibility panel lets Carers adjust pages to suit their needs.
Digital support is designed to lead Carers to people, not replace them. If a Carer needs to talk, Carus points them to a named support worker at their local organisation.
“Digital support should be a gateway to human connection, not a replacement for it,” said Harriet Opalinski, Chief Executive of Carers in Bedfordshire.
Learning from other organisations
The charity is also listening to Carers organisations in other parts of the country. At the Carers Trust Network Futures Conference in October, Harriet and Lisa Head from Carus led a session on moving Carer support from risk to resilience. Conversations there are now shaping what could come next, including ways to send updates to particular groups, such as young Carers or parent Carers, and better ways to show the difference support makes.
“We say to carers, if something’s bugging you, bug us,” Harriet said. “The same goes for the organisations we work with. We want them to help shape what Carus becomes.”
Because Carus is owned by Carers in Bedfordshire, there are no outside investors and no shareholders taking a return. Its profits go back to the charity and into Carer support.
Is Carus something I can use?
Carus is not a service Carers can join directly. It is used by Carers organisations, who run it under their own name and branding as part of the support they already offer.
Carers organisations that would like to find out more can visit carusforcarers.org.uk.
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