We’d be lost without Action for Children at this worrying time’

I suffer with bi-polar as well so being in the house is kind of normal for me because I never really went out that much because it caused me anxiety. But being in the house 24/7 with my daughter, I’m constantly on edge and have no downtime. I’m having to be a teacher, chef, cleaner and it’s relentless. I am also waiting to be able to go to the Royal Gwent hospital to have tests to see if I have throat cancer so it’s a very stressful time all round.

We’re just getting very little breaks. It’s been quite stressful and the pressure is turning up every week. It started off pretty easily but we’re slowly feeling the pressure with the lack of sleep and the constant repetition of keeping the house together.

I had to leave my job because of issues around my daughter’s health and the mental health issues I have. I had a breakdown, lost my job and became a full time carer. I was a confident young man then everything happened at once – the stress for me of moving to Wales, trying to keep a job, keeping the house and with my daughter being born with all sorts of complications my head just had a shutdown and I’ve not been able to be the normal me.

Action for Children have really helped. They’ve called us every week to make sure we’ve got everything we need. We needed some nappies, some wipes and some other things and as we’re shielding, we’re not allowed to leave the house at all so they’ve brought us these items but also food which has been incredibly helpful.

They’ve brought a load of things to keep my daughter occupied like a swing, bubble machine and all sorts of stuff. My son has used the swing more so in a way it took stress off my wife a little bit as she could push him on the swing and have a kind of mini break by not having to hold him.

They’re constantly helping and making sure we’re okay, providing anything we needed. If this was two years ago, we’d have no support when we were constantly struggling. Just before all this started, we had a Team Around the Family meeting and we started getting lots more support and were introduced to Action for Children. Now this is going on in the outside world, we’d be really lost without all the support.

Without the help, I would’ve had to take the risks like go and get shopping by taxi with anxiety a real issue for me as we’re meant to be shielding. We haven’t been left in the dark, I feel that if I fall there’s people behind me who will catch me. It’s really nice to know people are there for us. It’s brilliant, I can’t thank Action for Children enough.

Chris from Action for Children even came over and fixed our swing up and worked really hard. It was a very hot day and there was a problem and he was there for four hours sorting it out. We’re so grateful for the support we’ve had, we’d be lost without them. Everyone has been really helpful and it means a lot to us.