Chelsea Hollis

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It’s seven o’clock in the morning and 10-year-old Chelsea Hollis is in the kitchen.

It’s an early start to her day and after putting the kettle on she has to wake up her mother and make breakfast.

“Do you want a coffee?” she says, before putting bread in the toaster and guiding her mother, Maria, to their living room table.

Maria is registered blind and it is Chelsea who takes care of her.

“I wake up before my mum and I watch the TV a bit,” she said.

“Then I make her coffee and breakfast and make mine. It feels quite good looking after my mum because I like helping people.”

Stressful childhood

Chelsea has been helping Maria since she was five years old and at times she finds it stressful.

“I do feel good looking after my mum, but sometimes I need to have a break and play.

“Every time I try to play I hear my name because she is stuck, it can be really difficult.”

According to the 2001 census there are 175,000 carers under the age of 18 in the UK, but experts believe the number could be even higher.

Linda Howells says there are eight young carers at her school

Research by the Princess Royal Trust for Carers suggests that more than quarter of young people who care for a sick or disabled family member suffer from stress trying to juggle their responsibilities at school and home.

The study found that two-thirds of young carers were also victims of bullying at school.

Maria worries that she relies on Chelsea too much.

“She helps when we go shopping because in the shops people are ignorant. When you ask where something is they just say, ‘over there’,” Maria says.

“I can’t do without her, but I think that I shouldn’t really rely on her a lot because she is only a child.

“She needs her life and her fun and that can be a problem when she has to do so much for me.

“She gets stressed a lot and she has problems at school.”

‘Quite isolated’

Chelsea attends Lovelace Primary School, in Chessington, and is one of eight young carers among the 507 pupils.

However, head teacher Linda Howells thinks this number could be only half of the story.

“There may be many others,” she said.

I think about her all the time in case she doesn’t make it home. It worries me a lot Chelsea Hollis

“We try and know all our children well, but it is not always easy to discover a child is a young carer, especially if they come here part way through their academic term. They might not want that known.”

The school supports young carers and investigates all cases of bullying, but Mrs Howells admits it is a challenge to try and help the young people forget their responsibilities.

“I think because those children can’t take part in activities that all their peers can and they might not be able to discuss the reasons why they can’t go.

“They can feel quite isolated and left out. They can quite easily become victims of bullying.”

Difficult feelings

Maria worries her daughter may be bullied.

“She doesn’t really tell me when there are problems at school,” the mother-of-one said.

“The only way I know is when she gets really quiet and gets withdrawn, that is when I find out about the bullying and everything.

“She doesn’t find it easy to make friends.”

The family visits a centre for young carers in Kingston, which gives Chelsea a chance to spend time with other young people like her.

“They’re really good at talking to me about my feelings,” Chelsea says. “I have to stop talking about feelings because I don’t want it to affect my mum.”

Street dangers

Like many young girls, Chelsea has pictures of film star Zac Efron on her wall and her bedroom is covered in pink, from the walls to the floor.

Ten-year-old Chelsea helps her mother with daily tasks such as shopping

But unlike her school friends she has the responsibilities of an adult, watching over her mother to ensure she does not trip over or bump into lampposts in the street.

“It should be the other way round,” said Maria.

“You should be helping your children. It should be me keeping her safe and making sure nothing happens to her, not her watching me when I go down the road.”

Chelsea’s school is a short bus ride from her home and the pair arrive, with daughter guiding mother down the path.

“Have a safe journey back,” says Chelsea, as she watches her mother start the trip home on her own, with only her cane for guidance.

“I think about her all the time in case she doesn’t make it home,” she said.

“It worries me a lot.”