“It’s About Time” is a collection of true stories that illustrate the power of ordinary people to make a profound difference to young lives, simply by sharing their time with kids doing it tough - kids who need a break in more ways than one. Read an excerpt or order the book.

Excerpt from ‘The First Stepping Stone’, a child’s story

Most people take it for granted that we all make choices. The only difference, they say, is that some people make good choices and others don’t. But I believe there are people who just do things. They don’t make choices at all because they don’t think they have any choice. That’s probably how I’d have been if I hadn’t met my ‘other family’.

I have six brothers and sisters. My father battled severe mental illness and wasn’t in our lives much. He died several years ago and I don’t have one photograph of him. My mother found it hard to raise us on her own, but as an adult I now realise that under the circumstances she did a good job. Needless to say, though, life was chaotic. I didn’t have any of my own toys, or the experience of playing peacefully on my own. We didn’t have family outings. And the quiet members were never the centre of attention in our family.

When I was five I met Sarah and Greg and their son Ben through Time for Kids. For 17 years, they have been my ‘other family’ for at least one weekend a month, and more often as time went on. People ask me if it was hard to move back and forwards. No it wasn’t. My only problem was guilt that my brothers and sisters didn’t have the same experiences I had.

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But it was the day-to-day activities that influenced my life most. It was far more than just a break for me. I saw the world in a different light just from spending time at home with them. They didn’t go out of their way to do anything special. They were just there, being themselves, doing what they always did. It was the simple things. Like being asked what I wanted for dinner; being offered the most comfortable chair in the house; having my friends to my own birthday party; even the experience of talking about experiences. I would never have been given these choices at home.