6 August 2025
Meet Linda
Home Support Volunteer Linda has been working with eleven-year-old Fatma since January 2024 and is full of praise for Noah’s Ark Home Support Volunteer match system.
Linda says:
‘The match has been brilliant, just perfect, from the very first day. The family are just so welcoming and supportive.’
Matched with a Family
The family consists of mum Zainab, her husband Hayssam, and their three children, Talin, aged 8, Fatma, aged 11, and Fadi, aged 1. We have been supporting the family since 2017 when Talin’s health issues meant a referral to Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice after a four year stay in hospital. Talin’s condition is, as yet, un-diagnosed but she suffers from neurological, gastric, vision and respiratory problems.
Time for Fatma
Being the sibling of a child with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition can be challenging. Linda says:
‘Siblings tend to not have enough space or dedicated time. I think it’s good for Fatma to have someone that is just for her, someone that she doesn’t have to share, and it also gives the family a bit of mental respite to just know that she's being cared for and somebody's focusing solely on her.’
Linda says that initially the match was based on the fact that they both liked arts and crafts but before long they discovered that they loved something much, much more – the card game Uno! Linda says:
‘When we got into Uno, she said she played it at school and was quite good and I said, well, I think I'm quite good at it too. That was the first time we played, and we must have played ten games, she’s very competitive and when she’s on a winning streak she doesn’t want to stop. We absolutely love it, so much so she calls me Mrs. Uno.’
Linda has developed a strong bond with Fatma during their time together, Linda says:
‘I love that’s she's so inquisitive and she asks me really challenging, quite philosophical questions. She’s really sharp and very observant.’
Extra Support
Home Support Volunteers deliver practical, in-home, support for children and families, Linda says:
‘Going anywhere when there's a Noah's Ark child in the home is particularly difficult and can be a real upheaval. So, somebody going into their home is great, just from a logistical point of view. Families are more comfortable in their own home, and they settle into a match more with somebody when they're in their own environment, rather than going somewhere strange.’
The family would normally go back to Lebanon for the summer, but the current political climate has made that impossible. This means that Linda and Fatma’s match can be extended so they will have one last summer together before Fatma starts secondary school in September.
Linda loves volunteering so much that she says that it ‘feels selfish.’ Linda says:
‘Being a Home Support Volunteer is so rewarding and fulfilling, I feel very privileged that somebody would allow me into their home.’
Fatma is Muslim and Linda’s mum is Chinese, which has meant that their match has an element of cultural exchange. Linda says:
‘When it was Chinese New Year, we talked about that and what is means in Chinese culture and I explained about the horoscopes and she seemed really interested and she explained about Eid, what that means and the food that her family would traditionally have at that time.’
Although it’s always sad when things come to an end, Linda thinks it can be good life experience for children, she says:
‘Things end in life. In real life, you do get attached to people like I have with Fatma, but good things have to end somewhere.’
Find out more
Learn more about Home Support Volunteering here.
