Lack of support and awareness 'damaging carers' lives'

Carers in Wales are seeing their life chances damaged by inadequate support and a lack of awareness, according to new research released for Carers Week 2016.

The Carers Week research suggests that carers face a lack of understanding about their caring role from the overall community and that this can have a negative impact on their health, wellbeing, relationships and finances.

Carers Week is an annual awareness campaign which, this year, takes place between the 6th and 12th of June to celebrate and recognise the vital contribution made by carers in Wales

There are 370,000 people in Wales who offer unpaid care to a disabled, older or ill family member or friend.

The six charities behind carers week - Carers Wales, Age Cymru, Carers Trust Wales, Macmillan Cancer Support in Wales, Motor Neurone Disease Association and MS Society Cymru - are calling for "adequate funding" for social care support to be prioritised.