Our stories

Thanks to Storytime, this mum in custody can still stay connected with her young son, despite the distance between. them.

A mum in custody recently took part in our Storytime program, hoping it would help her stay connected with her 16-month-old son in a meaningful way.

Storytime is one of our most loved programs. It gives parents in custody the chance to record themselves reading a children’s book and send both the recording and the book home, creating moments of connection for families who can’t be together.

For this mum, in-person visits are rare because her little boy lives far away.

When our team met with her to discuss the recording, the first thing she asked was whether we had a particular book which is her son’s absolute favourite.

We didn’t at the time, but our team made sure to find it as she could see how important it was to the mum.

Once we sourced a copy, we rescheduled her session so she could record herself reading the story she knew he adored.

When we followed up with his carer, she told us the little boy loved it so much so that he listens to the recording every single day!

The carer jokingly said, “Now he can listen to mum read it every day, not me!”

Moments like this remind us just how powerful the parent-child bond is. Even from a distance, this mum knew exactly what would bring her son joy. And through Storytime, she was able to comfort him, helping him in the way she can during this tough time.

“She knew exactly what her little boy would enjoy, and even with the distance between them, she made sure she could give him that experience. It’s rewarding to know there’s several ways to keep a relationship healthy,” said our team.

We’re grateful to play a small part in helping families stay connected in ways that truly matter.

*Names and images changed to protect privacy.