Specsavers and UK Careers have teamed up to display ‘£184 billion’ artwork recognising invisible unpaid workers.
Unpaid carers across London provide care worth an estimated £18m each year.
To highlight the incredible yet often overlooked contributions carers make to society, Specsavers Home Visits and Carers UK have unveiled ‘The Most Valuable Portrait’, a powerfully unfiltered depiction of unpaid carers in the UK.
Created by critically acclaimed artist Colin Davidson, known for his portraits of the late Queen Elizabeth II, former US President Bill Clinton, and musician Ed Sheeran, the portrait has been assigned a symbolic value of £184 billion by Roseberys, a leading London fine art auction house.
This valuation is equivalent to the estimated economic value of support provided by unpaid carers in the UK.
In developing the portrait, Davidson listened to the stories and experiences of numerous carers, ensuring their voices were captured in his work.
“It was an honour to create ‘The Most Valuable Portrait. This artwork is not just for one person. It represents all the unpaid carers who deserve to be seen and valued,” Davidson said.
While the striking portrait features the face of Jaycee La Bouche from Wandsworth, who cares for her mother, it also represents the myriad of British carers and their experiences.
UK carer La Bouche says it was an honour for her to have her story and experience to be celebrated in a portrait.
She said: “Caring for my mother has always been a natural choice for me, and one that I embrace wholeheartly.”
She continued to say that Specsavers’ service is ‘invaluable’ to her and that it helps people who can’t leave their homes receive the care that they need.
The artwork aims to raise awareness and promote public recognition of the love, selfless hard work, and dedication of unpaid carers across the UK.
This is seen by Specsavers Home Visits colleagues each and every day, as they deliver eye care and hearing services to those who cannot leave their home unaccompanied.
Specsavers London home visits ophthalmic director, Preetam Meghani, who carried out a sight test on La Bouche’s mother explains: “Our Home Visits colleagues are in people’s homes every day seeing first-hand the incredible support carers give to their loved ones.
“We recognise that caring for someone with a physical or mental illness often means making extra arrangements to meet their health needs.
“It’s so important unpaid carers and their loved ones get the support and also the recognition they deserve.”
A staggering 82% of carers who were surveyed by Career’s UK said the impact of caring on their physical as well as mental health would be quite a challenge for the coming years and another 60% added on saying that by being recognised and valued as a career would drastically impact their wellbeing for the future.
The artwork was publicly displayed at London’s South Bank from May 30 to June 1 following its reveal at the Saatchi Gallery.
Following the exhibition, the portrait will be put up for sale, with all proceeds going to Carers UK.
To find out more about the portrait, purchase it, or to access support for carers via the new Specsavers Carers Hub, visit the campaign webpage www.specsavers.co.uk/most-valuable-portrait
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