CARERS have revealed that their role can leave them isolated, stressed and unable to fined employment.

And one even said they felt they had “lost a life of their own.”

Over the summer, unpaid carers throughout Bradford and Craven were asked to share their experiences as a way for Bradford Council and local Clinical Commissioning Groups to “understand the views and experiences” and help provide these carers with more support.

Over 300 carers responded, and a report into those responses has now been published.

The role of unpaid carers is estimated to contribute over £900 million to the health and care economy in Bradford District and Craven, but the work they do can often take its toll on carers.

Although most of the carers who responded said they cared for one person (75 per cent) five per cent of carers say they look after three people or more.

Half say they spend over 50 hours a week caring.

The survey found that carers looked after people with a wide variety of needs, with 20 per cent caring for someone with dementia, 11.5 per cent looking after an elderly person, 10 per cent looking after someone with autism and 4.3 per cent looking after someone with a terminal illness.

The report says: ” People described high levels of stress and difficulty managing the demands of caring alongside other aspects of their lives. Carers’ own mental wellbeing was the most commonly occurring theme across all responses.”

Many carers say they have had to change their working hours, or give up paid work entirely, due to their role, often leaving them in financial difficulties.

One young carer said: ““Being young I do not have a life as I have to look after my mum. I keep losing my jobs because I get tired and exhausted so I take a lot of time off and end up losing my job.”

Another said: “I have experienced so much loss in my 30 years of being an unpaid carer – I lost a life of my own over the years along with loss of financial independence and associated losses of savings, pensions etc.”

Stress and loneliness were also cited as being common among carers, with one respondent saying: “Not being able to go get your hair done, shopping trips, spontaneous things. Having to give things up such as choir. All because I can’t leave him for long periods of time.

“I take antidepressants and feel very isolated at times and have a stress related illness and I’m very unfit as we do very little activity.”

Carers call for more time to themselves, someone to talk to, better information and more support at home or at work.

The report says that despite the strains, people still looked positively on their role. It adds: “People in discussion groups spoke of love and commitment toward those they cared for as being driving forces behind them taking on caring responsibilities.”

The report will be discussed by Bradford Council’s Health and Social Care Scrutiny Committee on Thursday.