Interview: Danielle Matheson, 12, young carer

Rarely are those words delivered with such enthusiasm from a child sat on the wrong end of a six-week break. But for Danielle, time off from school offers little in the way of respite.

Her stepfather suffers from epilepsy and bleeding on the brain, while her mother has fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. As a result, Danielle has spent the last six years supporting one or both parents as well as her four-year-old sister.

"I have to remind mum to take her tablets, help her get things when she's too ill to move and help with my little sister. That means getting her breakfast, cleaning her teeth, brushing her hair and getting her dressed - things like that," she explains. "Dad is not as bad as he used to be, so all I have to do, really, is remind him to take his pills. Then I do the washing up and drying up. Sometimes when my mum and dad are really ill I help with the dinner."

Danielle admits modestly that she does not do all the housework alone.

"My brother helps as well," she says. "He's a young carer, too."

Like his sister, 10-year-old Harrison has had limited options in terms of summer activities.

"We can't get out much because of mum. Sometimes she's really ill, so I'll arrange with my friend Rebecca to play out in the park at the back of our garden," Danielle explains. "We go on swings, talk about what we've done and sometimes we make jewellery. We make necklaces, earrings and bracelets. My mum makes them as well: she does the bits that are really hard.

"Rebecca understands about me being a carer; she doesn't judge me," she says. "She just acts like I'm a normal person, which is unusual because people usually judge me and say horrible things because I can't come out and do things."

Danielle confesses to getting little in the way of help from anyone else. Yet she was fortunate enough to become involved with a local carers' network run by the Princess Royal Trust for Carers, after her parents stumbled across a carers centre in Brighton.

"The Princess Royal Trust gives a lot of support for young carers like me. If you have questions or need information about your parents' illnesses, they help you and talk to you," she says.

"They give us trips every term to give us a break from caring. This summer we went for a day trip to Butlins and Arundel Wildfowl and Wetland Centre."

For Danielle, next term represents a fresh start at a new school. Her family recently moved to a different part of Brighton, because in their previous house her mother had spent the past year confined to sleeping in the downstairs living room, unable to climb the stairs.

To compound matters, Danielle was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome around six months ago. Her mother worries that it has been brought on by the stress of being a young carer, but Danielle maintains she is recovering and continues to do more than just her bit around the house. Nevertheless, her condition meant that last year she had to attend school part-time for a period.

Although she is upbeat about starting at a new school and determined to overcome the challenges she faces, Danielle is clearly concerned about getting the support she needs from her new teachers.

"When I was at my old school, I had a teacher I could always talk to. But I felt a bit like some teachers didn't want to know what was going on at home, because I would try to talk them and they would just ignore me," she says.

"I really think schools should be more helpful and more aware of young carers and what they are going through."

BACKGROUND YOUNG CARERS: THE REALITY

• There are 175,000 young carers in the UK, 13,000 of whom care for more than 50 hours a week
• In the UK, 50,000 children and young people look after someone with a mental health problem
• One in 10 young carers cares for more than one person, while 56 per cent are living in one-parent families
• Twenty-eight per cent of young carers have serious problems in secondary school
• Two-thirds of young carers provide domestic help in the home; 48 per cent provide general and nursing-type care; 82 per cent give emotional support and supervision; 18 per cent provide intimate personal care and 11 per cent also provide childcare

Source: Princess Royal Trust for Carers and Young Carers in the UK

(Becker and Dearden, 2004)