One in eight people are now caring for someone without pay, according to a YouGov survey published to coincide with Carers Week, which runs from June 9 to 15.

Rowenna Davis, Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Southampton Itchen, will be addressing carers this Friday at a lunch organised by Carers Together, where she’ll call on the whole community to reach out to the ‘invisible army’ of carers who receive no support.

She’ll say that only a fraction of the 20,000 people self-identifying as carers in Southampton are accessing help, whether it be participating in a carers group, claiming carers’ allowance, or receiving other charitable or local authority support.

200 city carers are children

 “We should be in awe of the great job the tens of thousands of carers do in Southampton, day in day out. Some are caring for elderly relatives, others for the sick and disabled. Some 200 carers in Southampton are still children,” said Ms Davis.

 “Too many of these carers are isolated and only a fraction are actively working with carers’ groups and council services and claiming the allowance they need. This isn’t good enough. If you are a carer or know someone who is struggling, make sure that you get in touch with other carers, Southampton Council, Carers Together and Mencap who can help.

 “All of us need caring for at some point in our lives and with an aging population caring is only going to become more important. Let’s help each other to get this right, and make sure we care for our carers.”