Across Wales hundreds of thousands of people are providing help or support to family members, friends, neighbours or others because of long-term physical or mental ill-health or disability, or issues related to older age.
It's been estimated that 96% of all care provided in our communities is provided by unpaid carers, with the work they do saving our NHS and other statutory services over £8 billion a year.
Wales not only has the highest proportion of older carers in the UK, but we also have the highest proportion of carers providing more than 50 hours of care a week. Older carers form a crucial foundation of our health and social care system – but without effective support carers can become overwhelmed by physical, mental, emotional and financial strain.