Devizes young carer is face of charity's awareness week

Archie, 11, from Devizes who has just become a pupil at Devizes School after leaving Southbroom St James Academy will be supporting Spurgeons Children's Charity's Every Child Week which runs from September 24 to 30.

Archie has been looking after his single mum Su since he was five and has not had more than a weekend off for six years and at one time was bullied because his life was different.

But now he is the face of Every Child Week which will be a social media campaign launch to raise awareness of the plight of some of the country’s most vulnerable children and families.

Hi mum has fibromyalgia, which affects her arms and legs and she also uses hearing aids and has poor eyesight.

This means that Archie is everything for his mother – her eyes, ears, hands and feet.

A spokesman for Spurgeons said: "Archie is only 11, but he does chores that most kids his age wouldn’t know how to do. Every night, he helps with the cooking and cleaning and helps his mum bathe and use the toilet. On weekends he does the shopping, washing, and tidying.

Archie said: “I don’t get to play with my friends much and it’s hard to relax because I’m always worrying about mum. It can be quite tough sometimes, but the best thing is I get to spend more time more with her.”

His mum said: “Archie would prefer not to talk about being a young carer, because that’s not all there is to him, even if it sometimes feels like it. But he has to as people want to know how I am which means he has to bare his soul.”

The only breaks he gets are organised by Spurgeons, which gives Archie a chance to play and have fun with other kids who understand what it’s like.

Archie said: “It means that, just for a little while, I don’t feel like a young carer.”

But Archie is no newcomer to the limelight. Earlier this year when BBC's Songs of Praise visited Devizes they spent time filming him at home and at church to mark Carers Week.

To support the charity go to  http://pledgeometer.spurgeons.org/