By Katrina RoeMonday 9 Sep 2013Hope MorningsGood NewsReading Time: 2 minutes
More than 2.6 million Australians are carers – people who nurse somebody with an illness, disability, addiction or who are frail from old age.
At times that role falls to children to care for a parent, grandparent or sibling with special needs. Often children may not even realise that their experience is unusual.
Leon Allen became aware of the issue of young carers though his studies to become a high school teacher. Leon had to do a charity component of his course and got involved with Anglicare’s Young Carers Program.
Initially the idea was just to provide Christmas presents for this special group of kids, but the more Leon learned about their situation, the more he wanted to help.
Leon was concerned that many of these children are bullied or isolated at school and have to grow up too fast. They also miss out on a lot of fun because of their family obligations. He wanted to help them make friends, meet other kids in the same situation and have some fun. So, with the support of Anglicare, Leon is running a camp for 40 Young Carers in the Blue Mountains. The kids will do activities such as abseiling, swimming, mountain bike riding and indoor rock climbing.
Leon needs to raise $9000 for the camp to go ahead. You can support his work on his Everyday Hero Page.
Audio – Hear Leon explain why he’s so motivated to help these kids.
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