Jack’s London Marathon 2025

I’m over the moon to be given the opportunity to raise money for such a great charity on such on amazing occasion, that being the London marathon in 2025.

For for those that know me personally will know that both my parents were diagnosed with cancer when I was around 10 years old. I remember from that age helping my father up the stairs along with my mother, unfortunately he declined pretty rapidly and we lost him the day before my 12th birthday. My mum at this point was also being treated for her cancer, which was effective for the time being.

After grieving our loss and getting used to a single parent household, with my older brother being at university 3 hours away, I was just starting college myself - to hopefully get the grades to follow his footsteps. But by then my mothers cancer had unfortunately progressed and she needed 24/7 care, unable to walk nor talk after a brain surgery went wrong. Numerous doctors and medical professionals were against the idea of me being the main care giver as I was “too young” and it was “a huge amount of stress for someone my age to be taking on”

For me there was two choices, I allow my mum to go into a care home at the age of 50, which she was distraught about, or I step up and sacrifice what a normal 16 year old life should entail - to ensure my mother was comfortable in her own home. It was a no brainer, many people simply have to step up to these things despite their age, they may simply be the only person available to give the care.

There are up to 120,000 young carers in the U.K. starting from the age of 5 up to 17 years old. These children are bathing, dressing, medicating, cooking, helping with toilet visits, the list honestly goes on - I was even trained to administer injections/insulin. When someone’s that ill there’s a lot of stuff that needs to be kept on top of - that’s a huge amount of stress to put onto someone who’s so young. The doctors were not wrong when saying it was a huge responsibility. It was tough at times, I wouldn’t even be able to leave my mother to go train for football or play football for my team, just in case she has a seizure or a funny turn. The things most young people take for granted unfortunately aren’t available to everyone when they’re a young carer, I was limited on things I could do with friends, how far away from the house I could go and for how long for example. It also limited my studies, I had to drop a subject to look after my mum as I couldn’t be at college for too long at a time, meaning it was limiting me in progressing academically too, but once again you have to priorities the person who requires your care. 1/3 young carers claim to be stressed. You also have to remember this can go on for years, this is some children’s whole childhood. Some children are unaware of the help they can access as they see their lives as normal, it’s all they know.

Luckily for me I had a local charity that stepped in that supplied up to 8 hours per week respite, meaning they would send a volunteer to come and look after my mother for an hour or so whilst I went and trained for football or played a game on a Saturday, or saw friends. This allowed me time away from everything that was going on at home and to just enjoy myself, this was crucial for me and I don’t think I could’ve coped with my situation without it. This is something Barnardo’s can supply, something in which I would love to help raise money to support.

At Barnardo’s they aim to help as many young carers as they can. They help them look after their loved ones and give them time to enjoy their childhoods. 

Barnardo’s services across the UK include…

- organised outings and activities for young carers 

- give young carers advice and emotional support through counselling sessions 

- help the family get support from social services 

- talk to a young carer’s school, so teachers understand their situation and can be supportive 

- run drop-in centres where young carers can take a break, have fun, be a child – and meet other young carers.

Not only does Barnardo’s help support young carers, they help support all children that are vulnerable, whether that be due to being exploited, sexually abused, orphaned, they want to help install hope and happiness back into the children who have already gone through so much in their short lives. Together we can help give a bright future to the not so fortunate children of the U.K.

This is what your money can do!

£150 – could help pay for 15 young carers to take part in group activities, where they can make friends and build up their confidence.

£250 – could fully fund an eight week course on emotional health and wellbeing for a young person who has recently left care raising their self-esteem and building their confidence.

£500 – could provide 1:1 support to a young person with a disability for twelve weeks. This would involve weekly sessions of three hours where the young person would be supported to access community resources and develop skills as they transition from child to adulthood.

£1,000 – could fund specialist assessments for two children who have suffered sexual exploitation and abuse. These assessments take 10 weeks and are the foundation for helping a child recover from their trauma and building healthy relationship again.

£2,000 – could provide 20 additional catch up classes for 10 young people who miss out on their education due to caring for a parent or relative.

Thanks for taking your time to read, all donations whether they’re small or large are massively appreciated!

Love from,

Jack