My mum, Lynda, is 66 and she suffers from a range of conditions including asthma, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – a progressive lung disease that leaves her with breathing problems and makes everyday activities very difficult.

I give her medication, do the cooking, help her get dressed when she can’t do it herself, give her showers when she needs me to.

Like many other carers, we mainly have to live off Carers Allowance which doesn’t go very far. We spend a lot on electricity because Mum needs a special machine to help her sleep at night, but bills have been increasing.

Mum’s condition means we have to do a lot of clothes washing on a daily basis. So, when our washing machine started breaking down, we couldn’t afford to get it replaced.

When I was given a Rank Cares grant to help replace the machine it made a massive difference to me and Mum. Without it we would still be saving up for months and really struggling with that on top of the cost of everything else!!