Ross Kemp meets the youngsters spending their childhood caring for sick relatives in ITV's Ross Kemp Living with Young Carers
In the second of his new Living With… series, Ross Kemp looks at the issues facing young carers – 800,000 children in the UK are looking after sick relatives – in Ross Kemp Living With Young Carers on ITV.
He finds that although the youngsters are saving the NHS lots of money, it’s a ‘postcode lottery’ when it comes to getting funding for themselves.
Accompanying a charity worker, Ross meets some of the young carers, including 15-year-old Lizzie, who looks after her schizophrenic mother, Donna, and due to her care workload often has to do her homework late into the night.
And he meets the much younger Ali (pictured top, with Ross), five, who cares for his sister, Zainab, who has cerebral palsy and visual impairment.
‘There’s a whole generation of kids who are losing their childhood,’ says Ross, who has revealed that this Living With… episode, which he thinks is the best of the series, made him very emotional.
‘It’s shocking.
'This stuff is never reported and goes under the radar because parents are too scared to admit their children look after them in case the kids are taken into care.
‘The youngsters will have you in tears – they made me cry.'
TV Times rating: ****
