Daniel (not his real name) is 10 years old and has a caring role for his grandpa and mum. Up until recently he also cared for his Grandma, but she sadly passed away at the end of last year.
Daniel will often make them lunch and see to his grandpa’s needs when not feeling well, but they spend lots of enjoyable quality time together walking the dog and playing games.
Daniel’s mum has arthritis in her hands and can struggle with day-to-day tasks when there is a flare up in her condition. Daniel often has to open and close doors, help his mum to dress, and help with other tasks – he will carry shopping and spend time with both his mum and grandpa when they are feeling sad about his grandma, who they all had an extremely close relationship with.
Daniel recently started to attend our fortnightly respite groups after seeing our Young Carers Awareness Day campaign. He has attended groups since then, meeting up with friends from his school and striking up new friendships with fellow carers.
He currently receives one-to-one telephone support, which his mum has said is a “real boost” and is very grateful for this as it helps him talking to someone outside the family about his thoughts and feelings.