They are Britain’s unpaid workforce and their valuable contribution saves the country £87 billion each year – the cost of a second NHS.

There are almost six million carers in the UK. In our region, 518,211 of these selfless individuals devote their time to caring for others, and 47,886 carers live in Bradford.

Carers Week, running this week, is highlighting the contribution they make to society. Organised by a partnership of seven national charities, the week also campaigns for greater recognition and support for carers, and ensures they know they’re not alone and support is available.

Caring for a relative or friend who is ill or disabled is a natural thing to do, which is why many people don’t realise the help and support they could receive.

Some struggle with combining their role as a carer with a job, and some are forced to give up their job, passing up entitlements such as future employment rights and pensions.

With an increasingly large ageing population and the Government policy to deliver more care at home, the predictions are that three-in-five UK adults will become carers during their lives.

Around three million people juggle work with caring responsibilities. Caroline Sutton is a health visitor and also cares for her six-year-old son, who has special needs.

Max is one of a small number of children in the world suffering from a rare chromosome disorder. He looks like a normal six-year-old, but Caroline says his behaviour is similar to that of a three-year-old because of his delayed development. Max also suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

“As a little one he was very floppy and his development was delayed,” says Caroline. “He didn’t sit up until he was a year old, he didn’t walk until just before his third birthday. He does everything, but it is late. Initially we thought it was a physical problem but around his second birthday we realised his speech and learning was delayed as well.”

Max was formally diagnosed with the rare chromosome disorder last year following genetic testing. “Having the diagnosis has helped massively because we now know what he has,” says Caroline.

Having a healthcare background, Caroline knows the questions to ask, but she is conscious that other carers don’t have that benefit. “I am able to ask the questions and be persistent but not everybody is. It bothers me that other parents are just being forgotten and not getting the support they should be getting,” she says.

She passes on the benefits of her knowledge and experience through the support groups she and her husband, Richard, are involved in.

Caroline is a trustee of Leeds-based SNAPS – Special Needs Parent Support – providing activities and support for families of children with special needs. She’s also a member of an internet support group for special needs children and is involved in Ilkley-based support group LS29, while Richard runs the Bradford Parents Forum, an open forum focused around education.

While caring can be rewarding, it can also be challenging. Caroline and Richard often have to take time out from their jobs to fulfil Max’s monthly appointments with health professionals, when weekend appointments aren’t available.

“There are highs and lows. It is exhausting and very challenging but it’s taught me an awful lot,” says Caroline. “It’s extreme emotions; you have days when he does things like riding his bike, and that is just amazing.”

Caroline explains that because of Max’s low muscle tone, which is part of his condition, they didn’t know whether he would ever walk. “Now he can run, jump and ride a bike. He has amazed us,” she says.

Anne Roberts, chief executive of the charity Crossroads, a leading provider of support for carers and the people they care for, says: “No-one plans to become a carer, yet every year more than two million people take on the vital role of caring for a relative or friend.

“They often go unrecognised and unsupported, and that is why Carers Week is so important – it provides an opportunity to acknowledge the amazing contribution made by the six million carers and reaches out to those people who may not yet recognise that they are a carer.

“That recognition is often the first step in getting help and support. This year’s theme, A Life Of Their Own, highlights how vital it is that carers do the things many of us take for granted – spending time with friends, a weekend away without worrying, an afternoon’s shopping, or just some time to themselves.”

For more information about what’s happening in Bradford district during Carers Week, visit carersweek.org, or call 0845 2412582.