Carers UK estimates 6.5 million unpaid carers nationally are providing a labour of love and saving our government over £119 billion a year.

Many unpaid carers are in fact our senior citizens who are caring 24/7 for their husband or wife.

The daily burden, responsibility and sheer workload inevitably negatively impacts on elderly carers and many neglect their own health, become socially isolated, stressed and depressed.

The unpaid carer's job must be the only one in Britain that you don't choose, apply or are interviewed for, receive no training, wages, sick pay, breaks, or holidays and you can't leave or retire from it either. The trade unions would be striking for better conditions if this was a paid job, wouldn't they?

Astonishingly, carers over 65 are not even eligible for any carer's allowance as they are in receipt of a state pension, consequently making the price of handing over care to the professionals for an hour, day or week just too expensive for many.

Nowadays, nearly all care which was traditionally provided by social services to support a carer has been privatised, and is means-tested, resulting in many unpaid carers or the person they care for being charged up to £50 a day for daycare, £600 a week for respite care/residential care and £20 an hour for home care.

Besides this, most carers have to sort out care they are able to afford for themselves and many don't know where to start.

Therefore, more help is desperately needed to support our carers.

In Norfolk, we already have The Carers Agency Partnership (CAP), a recent collaboration of local carers' charities offering practical support, guidance and a free helpline .

They help carers obtain benefits and educational/leisure grants, and to access a free sitting service (30 hours yearly).

CAP also provides a signpost to local support groups that provide carers with an essential lifeline.

This month the Care Act 2014 is being implemented nationally and hopefully this will provide some more recognition for unpaid carers along with a legal obligation for every local authority to assess carers' needs.

The government has already set aside £25 million for carers' assessments nationally.

However, more recognition is still needed to bring this invisible army out of the shadows.

It is about time we all start to really value what unpaid elderly carers do by urging the next government to provide more help.

What do you think? Write to Norwich Evening News Letters, Propspect House, Rouen Road, Norwich NR1 1RE or email eveningnewsletters@archant.co.uk.