Neraya is only 15 but cannot remember a time when she was not a carer for her two sisters.

She is among the young carers crying out for what they have called crucial support, with Neraya saying she has even had to explain what she does to her teachers.

On Monday, the Welsh government will publish a national strategy for unpaid carers, which will have seven priorities including earlier recognition and mental health support.

Neraya, from Bridgend, said people in her position wanted the chance of "a childhood of our own".

Carers Wales said the strategy looked positive in parts, but it was "disappointed" manifesto promises would be excluded and raised questions over how it will be funded.

There are an estimated 5.8 million unpaid carers in the UK, 170,000 of whom are young.

The 2021 Census said this included about 120,000 carers, aged five to 17 in England and 8,200 in Wales.

Scottish government recognised there were 42,050 unpaid carers identified in the 2021-22 Carers Census.

Neraya's sisters have varying needs and she helps with practical things such as helping them get ready for school, as well as emotional support, and said there was a lack of understanding about the sacrifices young carers make.

"There's not the understanding that you might not have been able to go somewhere because we had some sort of problem within the household because my sister was ill and I'm worrying about my sister, that kind of thing," she said.

Neraya said she used to get "picked on" because people did not know what was happening with her siblings and others tended to assume they were just "naughty".

Once, in primary school, she said she was called to stand in front of her class and explain what she did because "teachers themselves didn't understand what it was".

Being a carer does not take away from her life, she said, but having support and being made to feel "valid" would give people like her "the chance to have a... childhood of our own at the same time".

The Welsh government said its strategy would focus on seven priority areas, shaped by conversations with carers with the aim of improving early recognition, access to support and respite, and better information on their rights.

It also indicated more support for mental health and wellbeing.

Reece Peachy, 17, from Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, helps care for his youngest brother while his parents support his other siblings with additional needs.

He said being a carer was "difficult but easy at the same time", but has to be home more than the average teenager.

He said: "If I have plans me and my mam will talk about it and I'll watch him. You naturally just help them out and I've been doing it for so long its just an instinct."

Reece said it could be "tough sometimes" as he balances his responsibilities with seeing friends and going to college as he puts his brother "before anything else".

"It can feel very frustrating and lonely because I wont spend much time with other people and sometimes I have to push aside things I want to do."

He said his local young carers group helped a lot by providing trips around Wales and helping him get his Duke of Edinburgh award to add to his CV.

He plans to finish his college course in carpentry before doing an apprenticeship, all while continuing to help his parents.

"I know if I move away too far they will struggle. My parents always say they are so grateful for what I do."

Cerys Morgan, 19, has helped support her 16-year-old brother, who is non-verbal and autistic, as well as being physically disabled, since she was eight.

She helps with mostly physical tasks - such as getting him ready for school and taking his medication - but also provides emotional support.

"I've developed an understanding more than I think other people would as a sister," she said.

"I understand how he's feeling, what his needs are and how I can support him if he's having a hard day or a happy day and know what's best for him, in that way as being a sister, to support him."

She called emotional support for young carers "really important" in order to help them develop skills and resilience in their roles, especially those who find themselves in the role at a young age.

"When I was eight I didn't understand what a young carer meant," she said.

She suggested the Welsh government could look at mentor schemes to link young people up - something she wished she had "when I was little to support me and for me to communicate with as well".

Deputy minister for social care, Delyth Jewell, described unpaid carers as the "backbone of care" across Wales.

But Carers Wales said the strategy does not go far enough.

Head of external affairs Rob Simkins said: "There are some welcome parts of the new strategy, particularly around access to respite care and a desire to see more carers receiving support.

"However, it is not clear how the government intends to make the step-change needed without additional investment to provide the extra support that unpaid carers desperately need.

"It is also disappointing that the manifesto commitment to ensuring carers' needs assessments are completed within 28 days is missing from the strategy."

He said the organisation wanted to make sure unpaid carers lives are better and was not sure that this strategy "will go as far as we want it to".

The Welsh government said: "We have engaged extensively with a wide range of social care groups and our national strategy for unpaid carers will help ensure they get the recognition and support they deserve.

"We are considering whether changes are needed to strengthen support for carers, including imposing a timescale on the completion of carers' needs assessments."