My name is Jessica and I am 13 years old. Four years ago my mum fell ill with fibromyalgia, diverticulitis and joint problems. This means she can't go out of the house and she is in alot of pain when she moves. At first she was alright but it got worse.

I started looking after my 2 younger sisters aged 2 and 4. My dad helped but was at work from 6am till 10pm and was tired when he got home. I cleaned, cooked and looked after my sisters. It got worse when I started high school. I had so much homework and was so stressed. Also my dad left so the stress kept building up. I missed a lot of school as well because I was ill from stress.

My mum hated relying on me so she found out about Young Carers and contacted them through her support worker. I started going to their Monday group and it helped me cope a lot. I got to make new friends and go out on trips. The stress became less as I learned to cope with it and started getting help. I can ring my mum at school now so I don’t worry about her so much and I can always tell the Young Carers leaders about my problems.