Young carers "lonely and stressed" during summer holidays
Charities are calling for extra help and support
Last updated 19th Jul 2023
There are calls for more help and support for young carers in Wales as research finds more than 8 in 10 feel lonely over the summer holidays.
Research from Action for Children and Carers Trust has found more than a third don't look forward to the break from school.
The majority say they feel more stressed and worried during the summer break than during term time.
19 year old Noah from Pembrokeshire has been a carer for his dad, brother and sister from the age of 6.
He said: "When everyone else, all your friends, are going barbecuing, camping, going out for meals, messing about doing what young people do - as a young carer, generally, I don't get to do that as much.
"The summer holidays you can feel really isolated and lonely and a lot of your friends from school don't understand quite what you do at home to care for your family. For them they're like 'oh, I do chores as well' and, it's like, it's not just chores, its caring for my family and making sure my family functions
"I think you don't really realise how lonely and isolated you feel until you start scrolling through Instagram or going through your friends Snapchat stories going 'look what we've gone and done' and they're doing all this fun stuff here there and everywhere and I'm just sat there thinking 'I've just done this stuff for my sister', I can't be that young person to go out and do that."