AS Ben Till leaves his Westbury home for school in the morning he is like any other youngster. But when he returns he is a young carer, single-handedly looking after his brothers and partially deaf mother.

Ben has just turned 12. He has cared for his mother, Claire Till, who suffers from Meniere’s disease which affects hearing and balance, for half his life.

Ben’s father is rarely around and so Ben also looks after his autistic elder brother Bradley, 17, and younger brother Brandon, eight, who has ADHD.

Mother Claire Till said: “When my Meniere’s flares up, which can cause vertigo and dizziness, I often cannot move. So he does a lot of fetching and carrying.

“I remember him holding my hand, because waiting for an ambulance can be quite frightening. He calls my friends to help out in taking me to appointments.

“When he is playing with his brothers he may have to tell them that something isn’t appropriate and why and explain it so they can understand. He is great at thinking on his feet.”

Recently, the shy and diffident Ben was referred to children’s charity Spurgeons, where he is receiving one-to-one counselling and mentoring. Here, for a short while, an unsung hero like Ben can unwind, relax, get away from the ‘madhouse’ and be a regular 12-year-old.

“Sometimes I have felt a bit down. I have to cope with a lot more than a regular kid would but I just keep my chin up and get on with it,” said Ben.

“I wouldn’t have my family any other way. It has helped me as a person looking after them and it makes me thankful for what I have.”

Mrs Till, 36, of Oldfield Park, Westbury, couldn’t be more in awe of her second son.

“He is one of a kind. Considering everything he has to deal with since the age of five or so he is quite amazing,” she said.

“He tries not to let everything that he has to do get on top of him and he always has a smile on his face. He helps me with my medication, around the house and one time when I was in a bad way he really impressed the ambulance team with his information and helpfulness.

“His Dad isn’t about much either. He is just a remarkable boy and I am so very proud of him.”

Mrs Till introduced Ben to young carers’ groups five years ago and, after years of failing to find the right fit for him, he appears to have found a happy placement with Spurgeons.

“I think this new arrangement will be much more successful than the others. I had my first ones last week and it went really well and hopefully that can continue,” said Ben.

I did the big group activities which were good for a while but they lost their excitement. One-to-one sessions are much better suited for me.”

Linda Mence of Spurgeons praised him for his selfless role in the family. “He is taking on quite a big chunk. He has had to grow up very quickly, taking on responsibilities that he shouldn’t have to at his age,” she said.

“We put a mentor in place, reassessed him again and try to make him more resilient to this. Ben needs some time out to be himself and we can do that for him.”

Spurgeons recently signed up its 500th Wiltshire young carer. On January 28 a young carers’ awareness day was held in tribute to 700,000 UK young carers.

Ben is one of 3,000 young carers, who have an average age of just 12 and can spend as much as 50 hours a week looking after a family member, Spurgeons have helped around the country.