Who cares for the carers? ‘I can escape without having to worry about what’s going on at home’

Lola is like a lot of 13-year-olds. She’s a football fan, her favourite subject is sport, and she says her mum makes really good flapjacks.

But it wasn’t until last year that Lola started identifying with a different label.

“Things were kind of getting a bit difficult at home. So my mum started doing some research and said, ‘Oh, you’re a young carer’.”

At home, Lola takes care of her two younger sisters.

“I’ll help them get dressed, brush their teeth and make breakfast. Then I help drop them to school,” she says. Lola explains that her sisters tend to “mask” at school, but their stress often comes out at home.

“After school, I’ll pick them up and have a snack with them. I get their lunch boxes ready for the next day. I might play some games with them, like board games or Mario Kart, do some homework, and help get them ready.”

Most of her weekday evenings look like this, but Wednesday evenings are different.

I catch up with Lola as she walks out of the football cages at the Kingston Athletic Club. Situated next to the ground where Chelsea Women play, young carers who are part of Kingston Carers Network (KCN) meet here once a week to take part in activities like football, arts and crafts, and baking.

KCN was named a Big Issue 2026 Changemaker and was nominated by Ed Davey, their local MP, in an interview with us last year.

Read more:

• Introducing the Big Issue 100 Changemakers of 2026
• Big Issue’s 100 Changemakers of 2026: Communities and equality
• Big Issue’s 100 Changemakers of 2026: Health and disability

“We support over 900 young carers in Kingston,” CEO Rachael Stokes explains. “But we support over 4,000 carers of all ages across the borough.”

While these numbers are significant, Stokes is quick to point out the scale of unmet need.

There are an estimated 37,000 unpaid carers in the borough, and at least 2,000 young carers. Stokes says the organisation is facing unprecedented levels of demand and referrals.

Carers have recently been in the headlines due to the government’s handling of the carers allowance scandal which left hundreds of thousands of carers being unfairly plunged into debt.

Stokes notes that while the greater attention on carers is positive and “really welcome”, the media often presents this community as ‘heroes’ or ‘victims’.

“Some of those narratives can be particularly dangerous, and clearly disempowering to those who are caring, day in day out,” Stokes explains.

So if not heroes or victims, who are they?

“I think they are family members,” she says. “Many of them are caring out of love as an active choice. They want to do the best for the person that they’re caring for. So they don’t need the label. They just need the question, what do you need to care? What do you need around you to be able to do what you’re doing?”

Stokes also points out that the weekly £86.45 carer’s allowance (as of April 2026) translates to £2.47 as an hourly rate when based on a 35-hour week.

“I think there needs to be wholesale reform of carer’s allowance,” Stokes says.

“There’s that cliff edge about whether it makes sense to work or not. With flexible working, the nature of work has changed, and the system needs to work around that. There are 600 carers leaving the workforce every week nationally, because the work isn’t working for them.

“We’re arguably unnecessarily losing carers from the workforce because of their employers. This is why carers are overrepresented in the poverty figures. One in 10 are in deep poverty.”

KCN is directly supporting unpaid carers who are affected by the overpayments scandal, and Rachael tells me they’re currently taking one of those cases to tribunal to ensure that some of their alleged debts are cancelled.

Their support includes groups for parents and carers of neurodiverse adults, carers of people with a mental condition, a group for male carers and a lunch group for carers of people with dementia.

For Lola, the young carers youth group KCN runs for 11-18 year olds, is her “highlight of the week.”

“Like school, I can kind of escape here without having to worry about anything that’s going on at home,” she says. “I look forward to these two hours every week. Being able to have all the opportunities that they offer here. There’s something for everyone. And the staff are really nice and very welcoming. If you need to chat with them, they’re there.

“I’ve made a lot of friends. When I come in we have a chat, ask how our week’s been. It’s nice because we share something in common. And actually, when we’re here, it’s not spoken about as much as some people think.

“It’s just nice to be able to be around people that relate to you.”

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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