Sheffield has a hidden army of carers—some hardly old enough to care for themselves. A team of young journalists from Children's Express investigates.
| It’s not that I’m embarrassed about it – I just don’t want the mick taken out of my mum. |
Thirteen-year-old Richard Suliman says he's nothing special. But the handful of people who know him best would disagree.
Like many other 13-year-olds from Sheffield he enjoys skateboarding, attends a youth project, and has ambitions-he wants to be an airline pilot. He knuckles down at school, but when the school day ends and his friends go back to homework and social activities, Richard's working day is far from over.
Six years ago his mother, Hassina, 38, was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a disorder closely associated with chronic fatigue syndrome. Richard has been caring for her ever since.
"She's in constant pain," he explains. "She takes about eight tablets a day, painkillers. She has to take others as well, as she's got osteoarthritis in the neck."
Sometimes the symptoms are so severe, Mrs Suliman cannot perform the simplest tasks. Since the diagnosis, when he was six, Richard's typical day has involved half an hour of care before school and anything up to two-and-a-half hours on his return.
"If she wants a cup of coffee I'll make it, help her do the cleaning, hoover up, help her with the shopping, wash the pots and that. If she's not too well, I'll help her on to the settee. That's where she normally sleeps because she can't get up the stairs properly at night."
Turn down
Even a simple shopping trip can intensify her symptoms and Richard needs to be constantly alert to his mother's needs.
"I can remember the other day she was carrying this heavy shopping bag," he recalls, "so I said to her 'Just give it here' and I had to absolutely drag it out of her hand because she wouldn't give it to me."
Although his role as carer means he often has to turn down invitations from friends, Richard rarely misses school because of his mother's illness-she insists that he goes no matter how ill she feels.
But for other young carers, missing school is a matter of routine. According to Kerry Devlin, a case worker at the Sheffield Young Carers Project, lateness and absence are commonplace. And if they are able to get into school, tiredness, bullying and social isolation further disrupt their education. Carers are often picked on by other pupils because they are seen to be different: unable to fit in after-school activities and differing from the stereotypical picture of carefree kids, they can become a target.
Kerry estimates there are at least 2,000 young carers in Sheffield, and perhaps as many as 5,000. Nationally, there are thought to be between 15,000 and 40,000 young carers, but because of the hidden nature of care, nobody knows the exact figure.
She says: "We do get a lot of referrals from Social Services, but lots of young carers don't identify themselves."
Most come from low-income households and are tied to relatives with problems as diverse as physical and mental illness and drug and alcohol addiction. Kerry suggests insensitive support organisations are often just one more source of stress. Health services often fail to inform or consult them about the particular problems faced by the person they are caring for.
"I think a lot of people are just not aware there are so many young carers and of the wide range of things that young carers are actually doing and the impact it can have on the whole of their lives," she adds.
Her own organisation is supported by the Government's Children's Fund, which has pledged 70m to voluntary and community groups to reduce child poverty. But there is no national strategy to tackle the difficulties faced by young carers.
Problems
Richard admits that he, too, has had his share of problems. "There was this lad in year six who saw my mum coming to school with a walking stick and he knew she was disabled," he says. "He started taking the mick and he just wouldn't leave it. But I thought 'What's the point in saying anything? He's not going to be at the same school as me so just let it carry on until the end of term'."
Few of his fellow pupils know about his home life and just a handful of teachers. Like many young carers, Richard prefers to keep his worries to himself.
"It's not that I'm embarrassed about it, nothing like that," he explains. "It's just that I don't want the mick taken out of my mum."
His isolation has been relieved by attending the Sheffield Young Carers Project, which offers counselling, social activities and positive learning experiences. Richard's connection with the project has helped him begin to balance the emotional demands of caring for his mother with his natural need for personal fulfilment.
"I think 'When I move out is mum going to fall or hurt herself ?' And if she does I don't know, I feel that that would be my fault because I wasn't there. But I want to be an airline pilot when I'm older. I know that I've got to get on with my life as well."
He is, after all, just an ordinary young man.
About the team
This article was produced by editor David Burnham, 15, and reporters Bradley Turton, 13, and Donna Ives-Keeler, 13. It was published in the Sheffield Star.
