18 months ago I was working full-time in a school and my two teenagers in full-time education. Then in the blink of an eye it all went horribly wrong.

As a single parent of 2 children with disabilities I found myself in a situation where both went into some kind of crisis requiring me to be readily available 24/7. As a result I lost my job and have been a full-time carer ever since.  

This has had a huge impact on the family as a whole not just financially, it has also impacted my mental health. Being a full-time carer is extremely challenging at times and having the opportunity to go out to work, a change of scenery, adult engagement is a welcome relief.  Having this taken away from me has caused me considerable anxiety. Add to that the worry of how I will pay the bills month on month and i'm full of worry.

Carers allowance is £76 a week, that's 90p and hour on a 12 hour shift, I often am on call 24/7 as there is no written rule to the care that they may need. The legal minimum wage in the UK is £10.42 per hour. 

For us as a family we have been trying to save to be able to buy a home for ourselves, to secure our future but due to this situation we are now living off of these savings month on month and we aren't the only ones.

Many carers in the UK are living hand to mouth, racking up debts and struggling to pay bills.  A vast number of those carers are caring for more than one person. However, we can only claim for 1 person per carer so the fact that I have 2 children to support is irrelevant the government don't care.

The burn out rate in carers is listed at 77%, If i break my kids go into care costing the UK Government around £4000 per week. Please reread that and compare £4000 per week with £76 per week and tell me this is ok.

Please help families like mine to get the help and support we need to look after out children and keep them out of care and us from breaking down.

Thank you x