Charts, page-799

My partner and I were trained by the benevolent society as foster parents , a role we undertook for 2 years before we set off to see Australia. It's a hard role, you need to have a partner who is a saint, and even then its challenging . Luckily I have one.

It's difficult, sad, very confronting , but also filled with joyous moments and inwardly rewards. You can expect police , social workers and 20 year graduates telling you how to handle the role. You need a rock solid relationship to survive the fostering Experience.

The organisations that you volunteer for are very, very thorough during the vetting process, they even interviewed our grown up children and asked them confidentially , what sort of parents we were. The need is so great for child protection in NSW that at any given time, 17,000 children are at risk.