A daughter who regularly made a gruelling 600-mile round-trip to the North East to care for her frail parents has called for more support from the UK’s hidden army of adult carers.

At 3pm, Louise Thompson, originally from Newcastle would sometimes tell colleagues in her office she was heading home to finish a report.

In reality, she would finish her work after driving 300 miles up the M1 to spend a sleepless night caring for her frail parents following their devastating dementia diagnosis.

She’s just one of an estimated four million Brits who act as informal carers for elderly relatives, a figure forecast to soar in the coming years due to the UK’s rapidly ageing society.

Louise Thompson with her dadLouise Thompson with her dad (Image: CARENTS ROOM)

Dubbed ‘carents’, they are the largest carer cohort in the UK and are often middle-aged children who either have to juggle caring with their careers – or give them up completely.

For Louise, it meant commuting from opposite ends of England to maintain the impossible balancing act of working as a senior company executive in Hampshire, whilst living in Sussex – and caring for her parents in the North East.

“It was exhausting and I found myself falling asleep at the wheel of my car,” admitted the 55-year-old, who has since lost both of her parents.

“I was jeopardising my career, yet I wasn’t doing a good job for anyone. I was simply hurtling between three counties trying to balance my work and home lives, whilst caring for two people I could never turn my back on and would do anything for.

“I was 300 miles away and my dad would call me asking for help with really basic things – even just changing the TV station.

“It became my triangle of hell, which was made worse by the lack of support at the time. I’d find myself awake at 5am after sleeping in their living room, desperately Googling for help and – at the time – there was nothing in the way I needed to consume it. You felt incredibly isolated.”

A poll carried out ahead of Carers Week has revealed that 50 per cent of British adults believe they’ll never need to care for someone.

The study, carried out by a North East social enterprise called The Carents Room, has also uncovered the shocking toll the role has on people like Louise.

Jackie GreyJackie Grey (Image: CARENTS ROOM)

Half of all carers for elderly relatives have neglected their own health to do the role, the poll found, while 60 per cent say their mental health has suffered.

“Many assume that the state will provide for them in later life, meaning that people, particularly in younger age groups, generally give little thought to planning for their old age.

"Furthermore, individuals often have a residual faith that their family will look after them in old age,” said Dr Jackie Gray, founder of The Carents Room.

An experienced Tyneside GP and public health consultant, Dr Gray launched The Carents Room after her own experience of caring for her elderly father highlighted the unique issues people encounter – from isolation to a lack of resources.

The platform is designed to give people who care the support and opportunities needed to make their lives easier. Louise described it as a “lifeline”, particularly for those feeling alone or isolated on their journey.

And on the back of her own experience, she’s created her own app, called ‘Myfolks’, which she’s funded by cashing in a pension pot.

It aims to tackle the “killer” that is social isolation by allowing people to book someone who is DBS checked to help temporarily ease the strain.

Most read:

Get more from The Northern Echo with a digital subscription. Get access for 3 months for just £3, or get 30% off an annual subscription with our latest offer. Click here.

Often former carents themselves, they can help with odd jobs – such as reading letters – or simply provide much-needed company over a cuppa.

Having realised the need for the service on the back of her own experience, Louise has warned that many Brits – particularly those near retirement – may have their dreams of an easy retirement shattered.

“Being a carent is such an emotional rollercoaster and there can be highs, but it is also emotionally, physically and financially draining,” she added.

“You feel so conflicted as you find yourself so drained, yet with your parents or whoever you are caring for, you can often never do enough for them.

“Often parents are pleading not to be put in a home, but often they don’t realise how much pressure that is putting on their children who are often older themselves by that point,

“It is much harder than you can ever anticipate, and we need to talk more as a society about the reality – from funding care to the toll it can take looking after a parent with dementia in the small hours.

“And we also need to better brace people who are in their 60s that the retirement you thought you were getting may now include caring for a 90-year-old – but it is great that there are now finally resources available to help guide them.”