Caring for Carers Cymru

Dates: Saturday, March 28, 2026 - 10:00 to 16:00
Location: The Marion Centre, Rookwood Close, Llandaff, Cardiff, CF5 2NR
Contact

A ‘one-stop shop’ of advice and support for carers of neurodivergent children. Helping to improve support for unpaid carers in Wales.

AP Cymru are partnering with The Open University in Wales to launch the inaugural Caring for Carers Cymru community event, which will take place on Saturday 28 March 2026 (10am-4pm) at The Marion Centre, Cardiff. The event will bring together parent-carers of neurodivergent children for a ‘one-stop shop’ of advice, services, and resources - from speech and language, to occupational therapy, play therapy, legal advice on carers’ rights and so much more.

Visit our all-day Carer's Marketplace featuring a host of stalls from local service providers, charities and support groups. Join us for caring insights and advice from experts at The Open University.

Tickets are £5 which includes lunch* and refreshments, a free resource pack, a free 'Time for Me' gift bag, and automatic entry into our self-care prize draw. Prizes include spa treatments, cleaning services, gift cards, and more.

*Please feel free to bring along your own food and drink if you prefer.

Featuring an opening address from the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Adrian Robson.

Agenda

Social story with details of the layout of The Marion Centre

Frequently asked questions

Please email [email protected] with any other queries. Please feel free to ask us anything - we want you to feel as comfortable and prepared as possible.

Organisers

Dr Claire Malcolm

I am a Social Sciences Lecturer at the Open University. I am also a proud mother to two beautiful children, one of whom has a complex autism presentation.

I recently co-authored a book titled ‘Mothering at the Margins’, in which I detailed some of the challenges I have faced in fighting for support for my daughter. The inaugural Caring for Carers Cymru community event is inspired by my desire to make the journey to, through and beyond diagnosis as straightforward as possible for neurodivergent children and their families, and to acknowledge and celebrate the incredible work of unpaid carers in Wales.

Karen Mills

I am the director of AP Cymru. I founded the charity in 2008 following the diagnosis of my youngest son. My eldest son was diagnosed in 2010, and my own AuDHD diagnosis followed in 2018.

I have extensive knowledge, both personal and professional, of autism and related conditions and I am proud of my team’s work in supporting neurodivergent children and their families. We are are striving to create a neuroinclusive world for children, young people and their families by providing a toolkit of guidance, knowledge and understanding of neurodiversity through authentic lived-experience.