Head of Policy Development, Carers UK

Madeleine Starr is Head of Policy Development at Carers UK, which she joined in 2000. From 2002 to 2007 she managed the innovative Action for Carers and Employment (ACE National) partnership, which developed and tested support in and into paid work for carers. Key outcomes from the partnership were Learning for Living, a pre-vocational e-learning programme for carers developed with City & Guilds, the establishment of Employers for Carers, a platform for employers committed to developing and promoting good practice to support carers in the workplace, and the Carers, Employment and Services Report Series, the most comprehensive ever quantitative and qualitative research into carers and employment, carried out by Professor Sue Yeandle at the University of Leeds. Madeleine represented Carers UK on the Employment Taskforce for the review of the National Strategy for Carers in 2008.

Madeleine has worked in the field of caring and employment since 1998. She was recently recognised as a Working Families Pioneer for ‘her sustained and successful campaigning for carers’ employment rights, and for her influence in establishing Employers for Carers.