YOUNG carers have been rediscovering their childhood with the help of a new play facility.

About 230 children from Oxford are receiving support from the Young Carers Project, which is based in Cowley Road.

On Tuesday, more than 100 families went to the project’s building for the official opening of the Young Carers Centre — a new dedicated space for children aged between five and 18 who care for an adult.

Among the families at the event were the Buckinghams, from Druce Way in Blackbird Leys.

Diane Buckingham, 35, said her two sons Brian, eight, and Michael, five, acted as constant carers to their father Tony, who suffers from the bone disease osteoporosis and the rare blood disorder mastocytosis.

The boys help Mr Buckingham shower, dress and eat and also do household chores while they are not at school.

Mrs Buckingham said: “They are little stars – all young carers are.

“Young carers should be recognised more for what they do, but nobody knows about them. I think that is awful.”

The Young Carers Project was formed five years ago in order to provide a drop-in service for young carers and their families.

People working at the registered charity provide advice to families where caring is an issue, and can also talk to schools in order to let them know the pressures certain young carers are under.

The new Young Carers Centre, which sits within the project’s main building, is used as a space for children to do arts and crafts, practice yoga or watch films, and enables the children to mix with people of their own age.

Children who use the centre care for adults with medical conditions, disabilities, mental health issues or ongoing substance misuse problems.

Mrs Buckingham said: “The centre is brilliant. My sons are a lot happier for going to the centre.

“They don’t feel they are different from everyone else. They just seem to be children again, when before they were little adults.”

Verity Falvert-Martin, Young Carers Centre project leader, said she believed there could be as many as 6,000 young carers in Oxford.

She said one of the main aims of the project was to identify more young carers who could benefit from the services it offered, including day trips to theme parks and a homework club.

Ms Falvert-Martin stressed the need for more donations and added: “A lot of young carers are very pressured and have a lot of stress and anxiety.

“Some of them come to the groups and they make more friends, get more confidence and their self-esteem is restored.”

To find out more about the Young Carers Centre, visit coolyoungcarerscare.com or call 01865 205192.