Across the UK today 6.5 million people are carers, that’s 1 in 8 adults who care, unpaid, for family and friends.

People are living longer with illness or disability, and more and more of us are looking after them. Caring can have a huge effect on us, our lives and our future plans.

Caring is such an important part of life. It’s simply part of being human. Carers are holding families together, enabling loved ones to get the most out of life, making an enormous contribution to society and saving the economy billions of pounds.

Yet many of us are stretched to the limit – juggling care with work and family life, or even struggling with poor health ourselves. We often find it difficult to make ends meet if we’re unable to work or if we’ve reduced our working hours to care. 

Every day 6,000 people become carers. Many don’t know how or where to get help. It can be frightening and very lonely.

For some it’s sudden: someone you love is taken ill or has an accident, your child is born with a disability. For others, caring creeps up unnoticed: your parents can’t manage on their own any longer, your partner’s health gets gradually worse.

Swansea Carers Centre is here to make life better for carers.