Young Carers Stories
Ivy's Story
* Young Carers real name has been changed for anonymity*
Ivy has looked after her mum from the age of 8.
Ivy, aged 13, cares for her mum who has epilepsy, and a mental health condition thought to be related to the epilepsy. She was referred to our service in January 2025, and on reading through the referral it was apparent that she had a significant caring role. The two of them live together, although her grandad lives nearby and helps when he can. Ivy says she prefers to help mum as she understands her needs more than her grandad.
When our Young Carers Team first met Ivy in school to carry out a young carers assessment, she didn’t see herself as a young carer and she appeared really stressed and distracted, but was adamant that she was proud of helping her mum and loved her very much.
Ivy said she had helped to look after her mum from the age of 8. She said “I just do things and only realised that other people do not have to do what I do when I started high school”. She said that she made the meals, did the shopping, gave her mum her medication and spent most of her spare time making sure her mum was ok and not feeling down. When the other girls in school used to be able to go out in the evening or at the weekend to the cinema, she said she was always busy or too tired trying to keep up with everything. She said she felt lonely and like she was missing out on things.
We put together an action plan with Ivy, which included asking grandad to sit with mum so that she could attend our weekly time out sessions and mix with her peers, and weekly 1-2-1 sessions where Ivy began to open up about her feelings and discussed her worries about her mum’s illness. Ivy said that because no one had explained to her about mums’ illness, she worried about what would happen to mum, especially when she was at school, and because of this was unable to concentrate on her schoolwork. We had a discussion with mum and an appointment was arranged so that, at the next hospital visit, a nurse sat with mum and Ivy and went through how mum’s brain worked and that the medication would help control mum’s epilepsy. This seemed to put her mind at rest and mum said she would try and take some of the responsibility for the cooking and cleaning when she was well enough.
Ivy has now made friends, grown in confidence, is less stressed, and school say her concentration has improved. She feels her life is now more balanced.
Daniel's Story
"My name is Daniel. I am 15 years old and I care for my dad."
"My dad was in the RAF and whilst working he had an accident which caused spinal injuries and he could no longer carry on with his job - this happened 8 years ago. Luckily he can still walk but he needs a lot of help, he also has kidney problems. I also help to look after my sister Evie: I do things like taking her to school or helping her with homework. I have been caring for my dad since I was 12.
I am home schooled as I found it hard at school, I felt like I didn’t fit in and worried about my dad all the time which caused me to have panic attacks. I manage my studies as well as looking after my dad but I did find it really hard. I had no friends and really only went out with dad and Evie to get shopping and maybe a drive in the car. I had no one my age to talk to and I felt really lonely and isolated.
My dad suggested I join Young Carers. I didn’t want to at first but we went along and met Carole and she was really kind. She helped me to fill a few forms in and asked about the things I did for dad. I never realised I was a young carer, it was just what I did. Dad was dependent on me and I didn’t want to let him down but I sometimes felt trapped.
I really lacked confidence and found it hard talking to people. I started off having weekly 1-1 sessions at Carers Link Lancashire and I found it great to talk to someone who understood what I was going through and I worked through my action plan. I would not go on any trips or join any activities for quite a while but, gradually, my confidence grew and the first trip I went on was to the cinema because it was dark I felt ok. I sat with two other boys who started talking to me and from then on I have never looked back.
I attend the groups and try to do as much as possible with young carers. Carers Link Lancashire also helped me get a laptop for my studies by contacting SSAFA Armed Forces Charity (who helped because my dad was in the RAF). My dad also had a care package which meant that he was no longer dependant on me. Carole found out about Brownies for my sister and now she has something to look forward to as well.
The best thing I have been involved in with young carers is the allotment. I helped to grow fruit and veg and took it home to cook which helps me relax. I even managed to get my dad to come along one day and although it was hard for him to get there I wanted to share with him what I enjoyed doing when I was not caring.
I have made friends and they understand how hard it is caring for someone. I think that Carers Link Lancashire helped me a lot because I would have not met new people or made friends and I would still be alone."
Chloe's Story