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SOPHIE LEITCH never has any time to herself. Other girls her age are riding their bicycles, buying Sugababes CDs or fixing playdates after school.

But Sophie, 11, whose father has an inoperable brain tumour, can do none of these. When school ends, she goes straight home to look after her dad. “I have had to grow up very quickly,” she says. “Dad can’t walk properly and I have to make sure he’s got all he needs.”

Sophie, who lives in Worcester Park, Surrey, is one of more than 175,000 young carers in Britain. Were it not for the work of the Princess Royal Trust for Carers, one of two charities that will benefit from The Sunday Times Christmas Appeal, she would be just another young girl whose childhood seems to have ended prematurely. Since the appeal was launched last week, your generous donations already total £70,000.

The charity runs 133 centres all over Britain, including 83 young carers’ projects providing support for more than 15,000 children who are struggling to look after a parent with a physical or mental illness, addiction or disability.

Sophie is in regular contact with her local project, which arranges outings and holidays that allow her to meet other youngsters in similar situations. “We have all been ice skating and camping together, which was great,” she says. “Meeting up with them has helped me understand that there are others in the same situation.”

The centres are crucial if children such as Sophie are not to feel isolated. “I don’t talk about my home life at school,” she says. “I don’t think anyone in my class would understand.”

Many of the projects that support children such as Sophie are at risk of closure. Your donations could keep them open: £20,000 would keep one centre running for a year; £400,000 would equip them all with the resources to survive for up to three years.

The Leitch family has already suffered tragedy. An older sister died nine years ago of meningitis at the age of 11. Sophie’s life changed two years ago when her father Andrew collapsed on the anniversary of her sister’s death.

She was at home when he had a fit and was taken to hospital. A scan later revealed the tumour. A former railway worker, he is now living on benefits and his pension. “Each day I can’t just think about myself,” Sophie says.

“Before I go to school I have to make sure that my dad has his breakfast and takes his tablets. I set off just before 8am and have my breakfast when I get to school. While I’m away, carers from the council check on him twice a day. They will see he is comfortable but it’s up to me to talk to him and cheer him up.”

Her mother, Pauline, works full-time as an administrator, so once she gets in from school, Sophie is responsible for many of the domestic chores. “Sometimes we have had to go to hospital with him in the middle of the night. Once I even had to go straight to school from the ward.”

Sophie can still remember a time when her life was carefree.

“Before my dad got ill we would go to the cinema at weekends and he would take me swimming.”

Her father’s illness may cast a shadow over her life, but there are other difficulties in being a young carer that are less obvious. One is guilt.

As Rachael MacLeod, who manages the Sutton centre that helps Sophie, says: “Often children believe at a deep level their parents’ illness is their fault.”

Sophie is no exception: “I sometimes wonder if I made my dad ill by shouting or by being naughty, that he got ill because of stress,” she says.

Sophie, a talented mathematician, is part of a Brunel University group that does advanced coursework. She would like to study science at university but it is often hard for her to concentrate at home.

“There are days when I wish this wasn’t happening. Well, it happened and I need to get on with things,” she says.