As Action for Children marks Carers Week (10-16 June) one remarkable young man supported by the charity’s Bridgend young carers’ service is taking his caring experience of his brothers to those in power.
Oliver Davies, (13) from Bridgend, helps his mother care for his younger brother Leo who has Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) around the clock and rarely gets a break. He also has an older brother who has ASD. He has now joined the Welsh youth parliament and has met senior figures in Welsh government to address the issues his family have faced getting the appropriate level of care.
Oliver, who represents the Carers Trust in South Wales, said: ‘I’m a young carer and have seen first-hand how difficult it has been to get Leo’s condition understood and treated in the right way. This has been really stressful for my mother and of course, the whole family.
‘I wanted to speak out as these issues affect so many people and more needs to be done. There is a lot of inconsistency between health boards with diagnosis and because of that, inconsistency of care and support. These issues are hard and complicated, and I will not stop doing whatever I can to improve the care and support for families like mine. As a young carer, I want my voice to be heard and it’s great to be able to do that through the youth parliament in Wales.’
Oliver’s mum, Hayley, said: ‘The truth is I could not cope without Oliver’s support as a young carer and to watch him take his experience into the youth parliament and meetings with Welsh Government ministers has made me so proud. He’s wonderfully eloquent but most importantly, he’s passionate and committed to changing the approach to his brothers’ conditions.
‘Oliver is getting a good reception and while that is good to see, I hope more action is taken to understand autistic conditions and the variety of treatments required across the spectrum. We’ve had a battle getting our family’s needs dealt with appropriately and we want to stop other families going through this in the future.’
For further media information please contact Alastair Love, media officer at Action for Children, on 02920 347068 / 07872 675688 / alastair.love@actionforchildren.org.uk
Out–of–hours enquiries should be directed to the duty press officer on 07802 806679/ media.team@actionforchildren.org.uk
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